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Council finally kick starts US$43 000 Nyaradzo road project

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Council finally kick starts US$43 000 Nyaradzo road project

                                After the exposé, council immediately took action

Courage Dutiro
The
Masvingo City Council has finally started the Nyaradzo Life Assurance Company’s
US$43 000 road project which was paid for way back in 2016.
Council
sat on the project for all these years only to take action now that residents
are talking about it.
TellZim
News recently exposed council management for taking money without the knowledge
of policy makers and then failing to do the work, a development that bears all
the signs of corruption.
Nyaradzo
had proposed to tar the 200 metres road stretch from Bradburn Street to their
offices in exchange for a piece of land which houses the city’s fire department
but the move was shot down by the former mayor Hubert Fidze-led council.
A
new deal was cut by management and a payment was made but the job has not been
done with the engineer citing rains as the biggest impediment into kick
starting the project.
Town
Clerk Adolf Gusha had promised that the project will start soon and work on the
ground shows that they are racing against time to cover up their own tracks.
City
engineer Tawanda Gozo told TellZim News that the project was already underway
but could not give a time frame on when it could be completed.
“I
am not in the office this week to give you a full progress report on the
project but I can tell you that it has started. We will work as fast as we can
so that we complete in time,” said Gozo.
The
motoring public have for long cried to the city fathers to tar the whole
Chimusana Road and construct a proper bridge which will decongest the main
Mucheke Bridge but the plea has fallen on deaf ears.
Now
the city fathers pin hopes on the dualisation of the Harare- Beitbridge road to
ease congestion saying the council will not have money to upgrade the road in
the foreseeable future.

Live with the flies, council tells Runyararo residents

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Live with the flies, council tells Runyararo residents

                                                         Livison  Nzvura
Tendai Mange
City of Masvingo has warned residents of Runyararo
West and Victoria Ranch that they will have to keep on enduring the buzzing
flies invading their homes as there are no signs that an alternative piece of
land on which to relocate the dumpsite will be found any time soon.
Responding to
questions from TellZim News this week, City of Masvingo acting director in the
Department of Environmental Health, Ngonidzashe Mapamula said council could not
do anything until government made the alternative land available.
“We are waiting
for the government to allocate the land for a new dumpsite. There is nothing we
can do for now except maintaining what we have in the best possible condition,”
he said.
He said council will bring in a dozer onto the dumpsite to help with
compressing the garbage and preventing the scattering of refuse beyond the
stipulated space.
Meanwhile, the residents living in the vicinity of the problematic dumpsite
have said they will not stop complaining until authorities moved with speed to
solve the health hazard.
“We live in a bad area where our houses are invaded by swarms of flies
and strong bad smells every day. It’s been five years and counting since
promises were made that the dumpsite will be removed. We are being taken for
granted,” said Regis Masunda of Runyararo West.

Filthy toilets a put off at Chitima market

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Filthy toilets a put off at Chitima market

   Council does not maintain these toilets to an unacceptable standards

Tendai Mange

Vendors
at Chitima market are living in fear of cholera and other diseases due to the
filthy toilets that often get blocked without remedial action being taken.
Traders
at the market claim Masvingo City Council has not cleaned the toilets at
Chitima market for several weeks and blockages have not been attended to.
People
who are being affected the most are those who sell fruits and vegetables as
well as those who prepare meals.
Sarah
Muziyoni, who has been doing business at the market for many years, said
customers were shunning the place due to extremely bad odours.
“Most
affected is the food section. People are thinking twice before coming here to
buy meals, fruits and vegetable. This is very bad for us and we feel council
has neglected its responsibilities.
The
informal traders also fear for their health and the safety of their minor
children who do not know how to practice absolute caution in a dirty
environment.
A
customer who used to buy lunch at the market said she had since stopped due to
the increase of flies and uncleanliness.
Other
traders said they were contemplating taking their demands to council in a
forceful manner most probably trough a demonstration against the environmental
health services department.
Acting director in the department,
Ngonidzase Mapamula, however, disputed that the toilets were not being cleaned,
saying there were employees dedicated to that job alone.
“The toilets are being cleaned every
day. We have permanent cleaners who stay at Chitima. There was just a blockage
which was attended to last week,” said Mapamula.
Housing and Community Services director,
Livison Nzvura said council was doing its best to keep the market clean despite
that many of the traders were not paying anything to council.
“Council is not getting anything much
from that market because people are not paying, yet we are still doing our best
to keep the place clean. We encourage people to quickly notify us if there if
they face such kind of challenges in the future,” said Nzura.

Two cyclones in 19 years, no recovery

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Two cyclones in 19 years, no recovery

    The derelict Chipinda Bridge (in the background) fascinates many in its state of disrepair


….Chipinda
Bridge remains stuck in disrepair

….Chilonga
Bridge still the same

Beatific Gumbwanda
CHIREDZI – People
living to the south of the mighty Runde River say they find it odd that there
seems to be a swift government response to the damage wrought on infrastructure
by Cyclone Idai when their areas still suffers effects of Cyclone Eline.
Cyclone Eline pounded much of the
country in 2000, with Chiredzi suffering from collapsed houses and destroyed
infrastructure.
One significant piece of infrastructure
that was destroyed is Chipinda Bridge which straddled Runde River and acted as
the safest crossing point for people travelling from Chiredzi South to Chiredzi
North and West.
The bridge has remained neglected
despite numerous pre-election promises by politicians that it will be repaired.
The false promises have meant more
difficulties crossing the river especially during the rainy season when the
alternative Chilonga Bridge, which is very narrow and low-lying, gets easily
flooded.
Villagers always use makeshift
boats to cross the flooded river every rainy season, and many people have been
swept away in the process.
An old resident of Chilonga said he
felt government was not allocating the country’s resources fairly as his area
remains neglected 19 years after Cyclone Eline.
“We heard that they have set aside $50
million dollars in reconstruction and aid relief for victims of Cyclone Idai
especially those in Chimanimani and Chipinge where the floods were severest. But
we too are survivors of floods that happened 19 years ago. We did not receive
any compensation, counseling or any support to rebuild our lives.

                                       Mvumvumvu Bridge in Chimanimani was destroyed by Idai

“We know the current floods have
been said to be more serious than those we experienced back then but we honestly
feel we are also owed support. Chipinda Bridge remains unrepaired and Chilonga
Bridge has not been upgraded. Every year our people die trying to cross the
flooded river,” said the senior citizen.
When
Cyclone Idai began on Saturday last week, a Chiwara bus which plies the rugged
road between Chiredzi town and Chiwara, slid backwards into the river while
trying to negotiate the steep, muddy slope that immediately succeeds the
low-lying Chilonga Bridge.
Many
people said there were no fatalities and serious casualties from the accident
simply because the river did not have much water.
In
the neighbouring Zaka and Bikita districts, more than 100 houses were destroyed,
with many people now in need of alternative shelter and food aid.

Challenging patriarchy on the pavement

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Challenging patriarchy on the pavement
…how Zvishavane female
shoemaker has snatched ‘men’s job’  
Darlington
Kanyongo
ZVISHAVANE
– An enterprising local woman has warmed the hearts of many residents through
her remarkable shoemaking prowess, doing brisk business in a sector which is
known to be predominantly male.
Vitalis Nyoni (49) of
Wedza village under chief Wedza is proving to be a rare example of women
demystifying society’s perception of gender roles that often lead to the
privileging of men at the expense of women.
Nyoni conducts her
business on the pavement outside Edgars where she gets up to a dozen customers
per day.
“I get a good number of
customer every day, most of them being students from the local campus of the Midlands
State University. I also receive good reviews of my work from customers who are
satisfied by the quality of work I do.
“A customer once came
to me on a Monday saying he had missed a church service the previous day as his
shoes needed some serious repair work. He said he found it better to wait for
me to get back to work than go to other cobblers as he did not have as much
trust in their workmanship as he had in mine. It was a humbling compliment,”
said Nyoni.
She said she started
mending shoes in 2013 after experiencing serious economic difficulties as the
country experienced a drought and as the economy nosedived after elections of
that year.
“It was in 2013 that hunger
pushed me into streets. I started walking from door to door selling my services
for basics. As if my troubles were not enough, my husband fell into an open pit
and he lost his sight that very same year. That is when I started to take this trade,
which has since become my only livelihood, quite seriously,” she said.
With the little she
gets from repairing shoes, Nyoni says she is sending her five children to
school.
“All of my five
children are in secondary school with the oldest now in form six. I pay their
fees using the money I earn doing this job. I shudder to imagine the kind of
life I would be leading had I not learnt and mastered this trade,” Nyoni said.
When asked about what
women could do to challenge patriarchy in all spheres of life, Nyoni said it
has to begin at local level and in humble circles.
“We can begin small and
grow with time. It begins with doing these very small jobs that even men
themselves might not be too proud of doing. Once women establish themselves in
these small jobs and challenge the dominance of men, we can then explore bigger
things.
“It’s better to have
many women doing small jobs than to have only one or two female leaders or
successful business people being taken as a sign that women are progressing,”
Nyoni said.
She said in many cases,
those successful female leaders and business people would be an end unto
themselves, having male assistants and business partners.

Chief Mawarire installed

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Chief Mawarire installed

                                                   Jawanda (right) and his wife


Cephas Shava
MWENEZI – Elliot
Jawanda, who was appointed the new substantive Chief Mawarire at the end of
last year, had his installation ceremony finally held on March 15
after the occasion was postponed more than twice last year.
The
installation ceremony was held at Mawarire Primary School, Ward 4, under Chief
Mawarire.
In
attendance was the Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs, Ezra
Chadzamira, National Council of Chiefs president Chief Fortune Charumbira, legislators,
trational leaders and government employees.
Jawanda
took over the chieftainship from Amon Vengo who has been acting chief since the
death of his father who was then substantive chief until his death.
Speaking
to TellZim News during the appointment of Jawanda as acting chief, the District
Administrator (DA) Rosemary Chingwe said there were four families with a stake
in the Mawarire chieftainship.
She
said unlike in many cases elsewhere, there was consensus on the new chief and
the families had avoided leadership wrangles.  

Homeless blind man jailed 13 years for sodomy

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Homeless blind man jailed 13 years for sodomy



Courage Dutiro
A
married visually-impaired man from Mucheke recently appeared before Masvingo
magistrate Dambudzo Malunga for sodomising a 16-year-old boy and was given a
13-year jail sentence for the dastardly act.
Edson
Chivi (41) told the court that he sodomised the boy by mistake thinking that
the boy was his wife.
“I
am guilty. I did it by mistake thinking that the boy was my wife. I fondled the
legs and thought it was my wife who had changed side. The boy did not resist or
complain and he did not even cry,” Chivi pleaded.
Two
of his 13-year jail sentence were suspended on condition he did not commit a
similar offence over the next five years.
It
was the State’s case that on February 10 at around 22:00hrs, the accused person
was sleeping with his wife Elisina Ndou, who is also blind, in their shack at
Mucheke bus terminus.
The
accused invited the complainant to come and sleep in the same shack and they
both agreed.
While
the complaint slept, Chivi sodomised him without his consent and this happened
in the full view of another juvenile who tried in vain to wake him up.
The
court heard that the complainant only woke up after the accused had finished.
 Liberty
Hove prosecuted.

Forget about Chilonga Bridge upgrades, Govt says

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Forget about Chilonga Bridge upgrades, Govt says


Beatific Gumbwanda
CHIREDZI – Masvingo provincial
roads engineer, Peter Mukome has revealed that it is not possible to do
upgrades on the ramshackle Chilonga Bridge across Runde River, saying the
RTGS$18 million allocated to the project last year falls short of what is
required.
Mukome told TellZim News on
the sidelines of a stakeholders meeting at Chitsanga Hall last week that the
project needed at least US$20 million just for the importation of materials
needed to do the work.
“We got some RTGS$18 million
last year but construction was delayed by the economic shocks of October last
year when inflation took a sudden turn for the worse. That means the money
allocated lost significant value.
“Looking at the engineering
designs of the piling foundation, the materials of which are not found locally,
we need at least US$20 million in real foreign currency.
“The RTGS$18 million was
only meant for the construction of substructure of the bridge but taking into
cognisance macro-economic shocks; inflation, price increases and fuel
shortages, the contract price of the project was negatively affected,” Mukombe
said.
He said his department had
identified a new site that would allow for the construction of a new bridge
altogether at less cost.
“We have chosen a new site
which has firm rock that allows use of mass concrete by local engineers. In
that vein, we are focusing on the designs as well as the tendering process
which is in progress,” said Mukombe.
On average, five people die
every good rainy season trying to cross the flooded Runde River in makeshift
boats or in motor vehicles.

Rediscovering the past: Tangible and intangible heritage

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Rediscovering the past: Tangible and intangible heritage


Elizabeth Duve Dziva
Cultural Heritage allows us to have a feel of the past
through its tangible and intangible aspects. As a matter of fact, this
generation is undoubtedly benefiting from cultural heritage hence the necessity
to actively participate in the veneration and perpetuation of cultural
heritage.
The very first stage of involvement is the ability to
identify and define what defines us, thus our tangible and intangible heritage.
As the word tangible suggests, these are physical things that we can touch and
they entail artifacts produced, maintained and transmitted over generations.
Such include bows, arrows, drums like the famous and controversial Ngomalungundu
(subject for another day).
Tangible heritage includes artistic creations, built
heritage such as buildings and monuments, and other physical or tangible
products of human creativity that have cultural significance. There are
approximately 200 recorded monuments in the country which the National Museums
and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) has worked tirelessly to preserve and
conserve. Among them are Khami Ruins, located 15 miles from the Bulawayo,
Bumbusi National Monument in Hwange National Park, Ziwa National Monument in
Nyanga National Park, Great Zimbabwe and the neighbouring Mujejeje Ruins in
Masvingo, the National Heroes Acre in Harare, Matobo Rock Art, Naletale
National Monument, Dhlodhlo Ruins, Tsindi Ruins, Chamavara Rock Paintings and
Insunkamini Ruins in Gweru.
It is important to note at this juncture that tangible
aspects of heritage encompass natural features which are worthy conserving and
preserving for generations that will come after us, The National Parks and Wildlife
Management Authority of Zimbabwe (Zimparks) has a statutory mandate to preserve
that form of heritage. In Zimbabwe natural heritage includes Mosi oa Tunya,
Popoteke Gorge in Masvingo, Inyangani and Chimaninani mountains, Chinhoyi
Caves, the many national parks as well as the flora and fauna therein.
Intangible heritage
According to
United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organisation (Unesco), intangible cultural heritage is a practice,
representation, expression, knowledge, or skill, as well as beliefs essential to
a particular group of people and worth passing inter-generationally. Intangible
heritage entails oral tradition which includes
language, songs, folktales, performing arts like music, dance,
rituals, festive events, rites of passage, knowledge and practices concerning
nature and universe. Intangible heritage also includes traditional medicine,
traditional architecture, traditional craftsmanship, knowledge and skills of
pottery-making, carpentry, blacksmithing, jewelery-making and musical
instrument-making.
Controversial as it is, both cultural and natural
tangible heritage have custodians, but the million dollar question is who
guards intangible heritage? In the midst of religious chaos and the dilemmas
faced by the supposed custodians of intangible heritage who are torn between
following present day wealth-promising religious doctrines and cultural values,
intangible heritage faces possible extinction.
The sun is almost setting on most of the elders who are
well-acquainted with the information on how to safeguard the endangered heritage
aspect in question. The upcoming generation should consider utilizing the
elders. One wise man once said the richest place in the world is the graveyard,
for there lies the intelligent, wise men, once famous and rich men, men and
women who died and were buried with important knowledge and skills. The
possibility is that in decades to come, our intangible cultural heritage will
be regarded as faded glory, a once lively culture, extinct and beyond resuscitation.
All the same, there are various remedies and strategies which can be employed
to conserve and preserve intangible heritage.
Till we meet again next week
The writer is an Archeological and Cultural Heritage
practitioner. The views expressed in this article are entirely those of the
writer in her private capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of
any organisation
email:duveelizabeth@gmail.com

Gutu motorist tied onto tree, robbed of his car

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Tendai Mange
It
was one hell of an experience for a motorist recently when robbers he had
picked up at Mpandawana thinking they were genuine travellers tied him onto a
tree using a rope before getting away with his car.
Enerst
Chambare (46) was driving a Toyota Granvia owned by Godwin Hwenga when he
picked up four passengers at Gutu Garage at around 19:30hrs on March 31, but
little did he know they were car thieves.
They
had lied that they wanted to be dropped off at Maungwa business centre.
Along
the way, the man seated in the front passenger seat asked the driver to stop at
Muzorori, 12km from Gutu Garage along the Gutu-Masvingo Road so that they could
pick up a female friend.
He
got out of the car and pretended to be looking for the friend, only for the
other three muggers to strangle the driver.
One
of the robbers drove for about 20km from Muzorori while the other three took
the driver’s phone, cash and forced him to reveal his EcoCash pin.
They
later tied him onto a tree and made a U-turn back to Gutu, leaving the
screaming Chambare stranded. The victim was only rescued by a villager
identified as Peter Mugova.
Mugova
called Hwenga who later arrived at the scene with detectives from Gutu police
station.
Masvingo
Provincial Police spokesperson Chief Inspector Charity Mazula warned motorists against
picking strangers especially during the night.

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