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Macheso plays Tuku song, breaks down

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Macheso plays Tuku song, breaks down


Alick Maches on stage

Bothwell Chabarika

Sungura maestro Alick Macheso was last week overwhelmed by emotions as he performed some lines off the late superstar Oliver Mtukudzi’s Munendipasa manyemwe during a show at Club Lagoon in Masvingo.
Macheso had to give himself some few minutes break to regain control of his runaway emotions before he could carry on with the show.
Mtukudzi died on January 23 after battling diabetes for a long time, putting an end to an illustrious career spanning four decades.
His death triggered days of mourning in the country, and he became the only person outside of politics to be declared a national hero.
Macheso later played the late Tongai Moyo’s Zvinoita murudo in a manner which again brought out strong emotions out of him and his audience.
The King of Sungura also sampled some new offerings which showed lead guitarist Devine Muzenda’s artistic prowess.
A new dance called Chidhindo was also introduced by Jonas Kasamba who has now regained weight and belly that he has always been known of before he left for Orchestra Kwazvose.
Macheso later expressed disappointment that an emerging local Afrofusion band Panhimbe Crew had not been given a chance to warm the stage for him. He then invited the group to visit his studio in Harare.
There had been fears that the show could be cancelled due to Cyclone Idai which was expected to reach the city.
Club Lagoon marketing manager Kudzai Hazangwi thanked patrons for supporting the place through their attendance of the show, saying the club will continue to work hard to improve services.

Chamisa threatens to overthrow Govt

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Chamisa threatens to overthrow Govt

Upenyu Chaota

MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has said his party will soon be exerting more pressure on President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his government until they come to the negotiating table to resolve the countryﾒs intertwined political and economic challenges.
Chamisa said the protests that rocked the country in January were nothing compared to what they are planning.
Addressing a provincial council meeting at Mucheke Hall last Saturday, Chamisa said the situation in the country had become unattainable and the people were being robbed by their government on daily basis.
ﾓThe stay away protests organised by the ZCTU are nothing compared to what we are planning. They said we planned the stay away but we do not stay away, we stay in. We did not want to say anything on the ZCTU stay away because we knew it could have been worse,ﾔ said Chamisa.
He said the party was yet to finalise preparations on the massive protests.
ﾓIf things remain unchanged, we are going to call everyone to Harare. This will not be a one day protest but we will camp in the streets for the whole week until things change.
ﾓWe will not get into the streets and go out without achieving our goal. Be prepared for action, Masvingo get ready. We want to see everyone from Masvingo in Harare when we give the green light. We are not going back because we know who the people voted for. If we do not defend the people’s vote, we risk having a situation where no one will vote for us in future elections because they will say we vote for you and you do not defend our vote,ﾔ said Chamisa.
He said he was not waiting for the 2023 elections to lead the country but will take over now because he was given the mandate by the people.
ﾓWe want to take over now. We will not wait for 2023 because by then we should be doing our second term,ﾔ said Chamisa.
Chamisa said they will not use violence but warned Zanu PF that they should not take advantage of their ﾑpeace-loving natureﾒ to use violence against them.
ﾓI told Zanu PF people that we do not want violence. I told them that shops that sell guns have not closed. Guns have not stopped to be sold in the country but we will not go for guns not because we canﾒt use them but because we do not want them.
ﾓThey should not underestimate us and walk all over us. When we say letﾒs shake hands and you come with clenched fists or catapults, we will show you that we have other things we can do, dry hands not catapults. Can you imagine if we say everyone across the country come to Harare, Mnangagwa will not have a chance,ﾔ said Chamisa.
He said they will pile political pressure on Manangagwa for him to come to the negotiating table and come up with a transitional mechanism which will last for a year or two paving way for fresh elections done by an independent electoral commission.
President Mnangagwa has revealed plans to splash millions of dollars to boost anti-riot arsenal and training to deal with violent protests and stop relying on the military to quell protests.

Impunity: Zanu PF chairperson admits stealing from GMB

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Impunity: Zanu PF chairperson admits stealing from GMB

…‘we always do that when we have party functions’

Cephas Shava


MWENEZI – Zanu PF Mwenezi district chairperson, Rennias Muchoko (42) was last week arrested and arraigned before magistrate Honest Musiiwa on charges of stealing bags of maize and millet from Rutenga Grain Marketing Board (GMB) depot.
Muchoko, of Stand Number 521, Rutenga growth point, was found guilty is also the party’s provincial secretary for transport and welfare.
He entered the ruling party’s Mwenezi West parliamentary primary elections but later withdraw to support his relative Tafadzwa Shumba who went on to lose to current MP Priscilla Zindari Moyo.
Muchoko was found guilty of theft after he pleaded not guilty but admitted that he took the grains as he believed it was normal to do so.
He was sentenced to 10 months in prison, four of which were suspended on condition that he restituted GMB by March 22. The remaining six months were suspended on condition that he perfomed 210 hours of community service at ZRP Rutenga begining March 15.
In his defence, Muchoko had said  it was the norm that whenever the ruling party had a gathering, grains are taken from GMB and on this incident, he had expected President Emmerson Mnangagwa to address a rally in Mwenezi West.
GMB officials who testified in court, however, nailed Muchoko arguing that the Zanu PF leader had acted with impunity and ignored all procedures to forcefully take the grain without doing any necessary paperwork.
The State claimed that that on August 12, 2017 at around 08:45hrs, Muchoko went to Rutenga GMB depot and found a security guard, Warinda Kaurai at the premises. The accused demanded some bags of maize purporting that they were going to be used at a gathering.
Kaurai advised Muchoko to first inform the deport manager Masiyambiri but the accused was defiant and he unlawfully took 10 x 50 kgs  bags of maize and 2 x 50 bags of millet and went away.
The security guard immediately advised the depot manager who then ordered him to file a police report leading to Muchoko’s arrest. All in all, the value of the stolen grain amounted to $220 and nothing was recovered.
Caroline Pasipanodya is representing the State.

‘Transitional justice impossible without truth-telling’

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‘Transitional justice impossible without truth-telling’


Moses Ziyambi

The National Transitional Justice
Working Group (NTJWG) has said Zimbabwe is a deeply divided and angry nation, a
reality that makes truth-telling a critical factor if genuine healing and
reconciliation is to be achieved.
This and other sentiments came
out on Wednesday during a Masvingo stakeholders’ consultative and monitoring
meeting on the work of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC).
Participants expressed
dissatisfaction with the work of the NPRC, saying all the commissioners were concentrated
in Harare with little or no outreach being done outside of the intervention of
civil society.
The NTJWG’s Tendai Tlou said it
was unfortunate that politicians were making little or no efforts to facilitate
closure in such tragic parts of the nation’s history as the Gukurahundi
massacres and the 2008 election violence that saw hundreds being killed, raped
and maimed.
“The main pillars of transitional
justice include truth-telling, access to justice, reconciliation and
reparations. As NTJWG, we are closely monitoring the work of the NPRC and we
are not satisfied by their progress. We are also trying to engage the political
power brokers as much as possible but there seems to be a reluctance to
facilitate the closure that is key to genuine healing and progress,” said Tlou.
Other stakeholders said they were
worried by the ambiguity that shrouds the NPRC’s constitutional timeframe since
it was only operationalised in 2018.
“There is enormous work to be
done yet there is no clarity as to when exactly the mandate of the commission
is supposed to end. Does the 10-year lifespan that the constitution talks about
run from 2013 when the constitution came into effect, or does it run from 2018
when the commission was operationalised. Those in power are enjoying this
ambiguity as it allows them to tilt the scales in whatever way that is
convenient to them,” said one participant.
The country’s five independent
commissions came with the adoption of a new constitution in 2013, but they were
never immediately operationalised as political considerations took precedence
over national interest. The NPRC was only operationalised at the beginning of
2018 but it still operates without a secretariat, meaning the commissioners’
findings and recommendations cannot be effectively implemented or enforced.

Factional fights derail ZSDA elections

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Factional fights derail ZSDA elections

Edmore Veterai


…bank accounts frozen over allegations of abuse



Beatific Gumbwanda


CHIREDZI – A conflict is brewing in the Zimbabwe Sugarcane Development Association (ZSDA), one of the biggest indigenous sugarcane farmers’ unions in the Lowveld, with elections that were supposed to be held on March 01 being stopped by a court interdict.
ZSDA is currently chaired by Edmore Veterai who would have been challenged by Elisha Tamirepi had the elective Annual General Meeting (AGM) proceeded as planned.
Tamirepi’s camp accuses Veterai of personalising the organisation and of financial improbity, claiming that the association funds are being abused.
Represented by lawyers from Muzenda and Chitsama Attorneys, Tamirepi’s camp obtained a court stopping the AGM on grounds that the current executive had set unfair conditions that would have disqualified Tamirepi and his followers from contesting.
The rivals also complained that the current executive had sought to introduce lavish retirement packages that would suffocate the farmer.
Bernadette Tamba, who wants to contest for the vice chairpersonship on the side of Tamirepi’s camp, said they sought a court order as the election guidelines did not provide for a level playing field.
“We oppose  section 5.1 of the election guidelines which states that the chairperson must be from Hippo East, vice chairperson from Mkwasine Central, secretary from Hippo West and vice secretary from Chipimbi and treasurer from Mapanza.
“Two other posts are reserved for the council of elders, the president and vice president but we feel that will interfere with the everyday business of the executive and that it is a way of excluding certain members,” said Tamba.
She said it was unacceptable that new guidelines stipulated that all retiring executives shall be entitled to an exit package equalling ten months of their allowances.
When contacted for comment, Veterai denied all allegations of wrongdoing, saying the association could not be personalised. He said he did not wish to comment on matters that had since involved the court of law.
“The association cannot be personalised. It’s just branded. We called for elections and some elements stopped them to get more time to tarnish me and decampaign my executive. You cannot have your cake and eat it at the same time.
“Is that not a very big contradiction when one says, ‘go you have overstayed’ but then put a court order to say, ‘don’t do elections’? I can’t comment further on a case before the courts,” said Veterrai.
ZSDA bank accounts have since been frozen as the other camp, which suspects Veterai of abusing the association’s money, calls for an audit.

Politics threaten to tear apart Chibuwe High

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Politics threaten to tear apart Chibuwe High

…parents claim MDC Alliance has taken over school 

Perseverance Muhoma


CHIPINGE – Some parents with pupils at Chibuwe High are fighting tooth and nail to have the new School Development Committee (SDC) elected on February 09 dissolved on allegations that it is made up of MDC Alliance members who rigged themselves in.
Sources said the February 09 elective Annual General Meeting (AGM) was chaotic and politically-charged, with rival camps singing and chanting both Zanu PF and MDC Alliance songs and slogans.
It was, however, the alleged MDC Alliance camp that went away with the spoils after Themba Gatura won the position of SDC chair after allegedly rigging the election with the help of Ward 20 MDC Alliance councillor, Charles Mugidho.
Gatura is also said to have been deputy head Tawanda Chitombo and senior teacher Dakarai Dhliwayo’s favourite.
“Mugidho used threatening language and moves throughout the meeting and helped his friend Gatura to win. Mugidho has children who owe $1 500 in unpaid fees to the school,” said Shingirai Gapara, a parent from Mutorwa village.
He claimed that the school did not even bother sending invitations for the AGM, and she only got to learn about it through a newspaper article.
“They allowed all their people to get into the election room. Even well-known cattle herders with no children at the school voted,” he alleged.
Another parent claimed that Gatura and another committee member Phainus Bote were conflicted as they had running contracts with the school.
“The tenders were awarded to them with the help of Chitombo without going to tender. We suspect there is corruption happening,” said the parent.
TellZim News contacted Chibuwe High School head Gift Dhliwayo who denied that Cllr Mugidho was active in the electoral process.
“The councillor was just seated at the podium with other respected persons. It was in fact my deputy and security guards who first did the verification process for eligible voters but when people said they didn’t want them to do the job, I and some police officers took over,” said Dhliwayo.
He said he could not promise that only parents or guardians with pupils at the school voted, saying he was still new at the school hence did not new everybody by face or name.
“Some parents helped us with the verification process though no identity particulars were asked for one to be allowed to vote.
“Remember when parents vote, they vote for five people whom they want to be members of the SDC. The committee members are then joined by the councilor, the school head, deputy school head and the senior teacher in a separate meeting where we then vote for chairperson and other leaders from those five. That is how Gatura emerged as chairperson although some people might not have wanted him to be.
“For your own information, former chairperson Edmore Mugwazi had got the most popular votes but when we got into our own meeting, we voted differently and Mugwazi lost to Gatura. We went on to vote for other SDC leaders until we got the final structure that we have now. There is nothing amiss about it, it’s only a matter of sour grapes by some disaffected people,” Dhliwayo said.                         
Parents have, however, appealed to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to suspend the SDC pending thorough investigations.
When contacted for comment, Manicaland Provincial Education Director (PED) Edward Shumba said the matter was no longer in his hands as it was now being investigated by permanent secretary in the ministry, Tumisang Thabela.

MPs are useless: Zivhu

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MPs are useless: Zivhu


Killer Zivhu


….trashes legislature as a waste of time


TellZim Reporter

Chivi South Member of Parliament (MP) Killer Zivhu has disparaged the legislature, calling it a place where ‘useless noise’ is made with no chance of the debates contributing to nation-building.
In a recent tirade on Twitter, Zivhu poured scorn on parliament, saying he would rather go back to his previous days as councillor in Chivi.
“I do miss the time I was councillor I could contribute to nation building but now as MP I have been reduced to useless leader (sic), only to talk as per instructions or wait to make noise in parliament even if the things said make a lot of sense my duty is now to make noise,” the tweet reads.
The tweet was accompanied by a picture taken when he became president of the Zimbabwe Local Government Association (Zilga) in September 2017. By then, he was also president of the Association for Rural District Councils Association (ARDC).
His sentiments seem to mirror the general feeling that most people aspire to go to parliament only to access the perks and privileges.
Most MPs have also been criticised for being backbenchers that are either too incompetent to contribute to meaningful debates or are prevented from doing so by their political parties’ whipping systems that puts political interests ahead of national good.
A former MP who refused to be named said Zivhu’s tweet was either a strong political statement or ‘was just one of the many attention-seeking rants by the publicity-crazed political celebrity’.
“He either meant it or he was just looking for attention. If you follow the parliament hazard closely, you would find that more than half of the MPs finish their whole terms without contributing anything. They simply sit there and wait for the session to end, have their lunch and go.
“Some of us really wanted to make constructive contributions but we were afraid of going against the party line and exposing ourselves,” said the former MP.
A few weeks ago, Zivhu engaged in an expletive-filled Twitter row with Norton MP Themba Mliswa, with the two trading accusations and counter-accusations of corruption and sexual improbity.
Zivhu is also the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Cross Border Traders Association (ZCBTA) and is also director of the Zimbabwe Amalgamated Housing Association (Zaha).

Zanu PF packs hundreds of people in goods train for ED rally

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Zanu PF packs hundreds of people in goods train for ED rally

TellZim Reporter

Hundreds of people made it to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ‘Thank You’ rally in at Rutenga last Saturday aboard an old goods train in which the party’s Chiredzi leadership had packed them to boost attendance, TellZim News can report.
Some of the party supporters said they had expected to be ferried in busses but that was not to be as they were told at the 11th hour that they would travel by train.
“Nothing could be more dehumanizing than traveling over 100km in an open goods train. Some people did not care and were actually excited. But a few of us didn’t take it lightly,” said the female party supporter.
Another one said what was more outrageous was that senior party members and their close associates drove all the way to Rutenga in their big vehicles.
“We were packed like sardines. It was not comfortable but there was nothing we could do about it. You want to go wherever other go as that is the system in the party. If you stay behind, you risk being labeled and you then lose out on many things,” said the ordinary card-carrying party member.
Zanu PF has consistently ignored calls not to abuse public resources for partisan gains, and up until now, many of the party’s vehicles do not pay tollgate fees.

Decrease in Masvingo STI cases

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Decrease in Masvingo STI cases

Courage Dutiro

The National Aids Council (NAC) last week revealed that the province recorded a decrease in Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and an increase in condom uptake in 2018, TellZim News can report.
Responding to questions before the 2019 International Condom Day, Nac monitoring and evaluation officer, Munorwei Munyikwa said the organisation had noted a slight increase in condom uptake leading to a decrease in STIs cases in 2018.
He said the figures were encouraging especially with regards to greater efforts to fight new infections this year.
“Cases of STIs have decreased in 2018 as compared to 2017. This year, we are expecting to have a further decrease in new cases and an increase in the uptake of condoms as we are going to introduce condom dispensers to improve distribution.
 “The condom dispensers will be found in all seven districts of the province and they will be monitored by Nac through the use of champion holders,” said Munyikwa.
Munyikwa encouraged youths and everyone who is sexually active to make use of condoms correctly and consistently.
“We encourage youths in tertiary education institutions, youths in schools and everyone else who is sexually active to make use of the condoms correctly and regularly,” said Munyikwa.
As a way of reducing the transmission of STIs, Nac has come up with many programmes in schools to educate pupils about HIV, sexual and reproductive health.

GZU sets new standards in journalism training

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GZU sets new standards in journalism training


Professor Rungano Zvobgo

Staff Reporter

Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) has set new standards in broadcast journalism training in the country after the establishment of a state of the art radio broadcast studio in Masvingo.
The University has since applied for a broadcasting licence from the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), a development that will see the University becoming the first ever media training institution to run a radio station in the country. This ground breaking project will provide media students and students from other Departments in the University with exposure to real-life radio broadcast experience.
At a time when the government is working on opening up the broadcasting sector to new players, GZU Vice Chancellor, Professor Rungano Zvobgo said the campus radio will be a tool that prepares journalism students for the real work environment.
“We are a university that trains journalists and we feel this station is a tool which we will use to prepare the students for the real world out there,” said Prof Zvobgo.
Besides being a training hub, the establishment of a radio station on campus is expected to provide an alternate link between the University and the community.
 “We are raring to go. We have adequate content to immediately go on air once we get the licence from the authorities,’’ said Prof Zvobgo.
The Dean in the Simon Muzenda School of Arts, Culture and Heritage Studies Mr. Nicholas Mutami said the establishment of a campus radio will go a long way in linking the university with the community.
“GZU is operating under a multi-campus system and this radio station will be the link between the campuses with lecturers taking advantage of the radio to deliver mass lectures to students in our campuses.
“The surrounding community is also set to immensely benefit from this innovative project as lecturers from various schools and faculties will give critical lessons on issues that directly help the communities for example Agriculture, Health and Legal matters among others. Thus, this radio station will be the ideal medium of communication that educates, informs and entertains,” said Mr Mutami.
The Acting Chairperson of the Department of English and Media Studies, Mr Golden Maunganidze said journalism training will greatly improve as a result of this latest move by the institution.
“In a highly competitive world where the job market demands training institutions to produce competent students, the radio sector already has a good starting point. I can promise you that we are going to be number one in as far as broadcasting training in Zimbabwe is concerned,” said Maunganidze.
Apart from establishing a radio station on campus, the university has already started the construction of television studios.
“The major aim of establishing this campus radio is to come up with professional journalists and presenters who will be able to leave the University and fit well in the commercial, community and public radio broadcasting sector. There is vast potential of our graduates being absorbed by these sectors as the country liberalises the airwaves. We are also doing very well in print journalism training,” added Maunganidze.
The broadcasting sector in Zimbabwe is also bound to directly benefit from this project since the university is going to introduce a radio academy that offers mid-career short courses for journalists already practising. The radio academy will be mainly looking at areas that need improvement and come up with short courses that answer to the needs of the industry.

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