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Young people in bid to market Chivi’s rich cultural heritage

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Young people in bid to market Chivi’s rich cultural heritage

                                                  Stuart Madzore


Peter Chawapiwa
Chivi district is on April 25
expected to launch its own chapter of Zimbabwe Youth in Tourism, an
organisation that seeks to empower young people through activities that promote
tourism in the country’s 10 provinces.
Zimbabwe Youths in Tourism
national chairperson, Stewart Mutizwa is expected to attend the launch
ceremony.
Zimbabwe Youth in Tourism Chivi
district chairman, John Abbiot Madzore told TellZim News that his organisation
will work to market the localities’ tourism potential in order to help grow the
district’s economy.
“We want to market Chivi as
a whole and make sure that the youths benefit from its resources. We also want
to ensure that by 2030, Chivi district will be a world-famous tourist
destination attracting many tourists every day,” said Madzore.
Madzore said the organisation was
in the process of compiling heritage sites in the district.
“So far, we have identified
the rock paintings in Gongwa Mountain near the growth point, the stone
resembling a breast feeding mother at Rungai, the 400m tunnel at Bindangombe
which was used as a refuge by our ancestors and the ancestral village on
Nyaningwe Mountain,” he said.
A cultural village, Madzore said,
will be established near the baobab tree in Silver City, a place where Chief
Mazorodze was executed after being captured by Ndebele warriors in the 19th
Century.
“Other cultural villages
will be established at Ngundu and Mhandamabwe but the main activities must be
concentrated around Tokwe-Mukosi and Bindangombe dams. These will provide water
for sporting events, fish breeding projects, botanical and horticultural
gardens among others,” said Madzore.
He said they had received
assistance from a local benefactor Dr Tapiwa Murambi, Chivi Rural District
ouncil chairperson Godfrey Mukungunugwa and District Administrator (DA) Vafias
Hlabathi.

Chinembiri Secondary School rises above challenges

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Chinembiri Secondary School rises above challenges

      Chinembiri High head Owdy Matongo (behind desk) deputy head Marshall Chiome (left) and              senior teacher ….
CHIVI – Chinembiri Secondary has produced
many professionals who are making it big time in many sectors of the economy,
thanks to a strong work ethic which has seen the school carving out a strong
identity as centre of educational excellence in the rural district.
Established in 1984, Chinembiri Secondary School is
continuously upgrading itself as a way of positioning itself to become a high
school in the very near future.
Facilities like classroom blocks and staff houses recently
got a facelift, and there are plans to build new infrastructure to enable the
school to meet the ever-rising standards of modern-day learning.
A computer laboratory has been completed while a state-of-art
science laboratory will soon be constructed in response to current emphasis on
practical education as well as to the focus on science learning.
The school is located a mere 6km from Chivi growth point and
3km away from the main road in Mazorodze village.
In 2020, Chinembiri Secondary will introduce ‘A’ Level
classes to complete its evolutionary transformation and give local ‘O’ level
graduates a convenient place to further their studies.
Chinembiri Secondary School head, Owdy Matongo told TellZim
News the school was making progress in many fronts and was optimistic about the
future.
Chinembiri Secondary was one of the schools that were involved
in Care International’s Wash and Girl Friendly programmes.
“We have completed a number of projects and we are looking forward
to develop further. We are confident we will be able to introduce ‘A’ level
classes in 2020 so we have extended the school yard to accommodate a double
classroom block and a standard science laboratory.
“It’s quite encouraging that our parents are cooperating and
they have pledged to provide a bag of cement from each household towards the
building project,” said Matongo.
He said he was pleased that teachers were consistently taking
pupils through holiday lessons as a measure to keep on improving the school’s
pass rate.
“Our enrollment is big since we are the attraction of many
pupils; a great deal of who come from far-flung villages. Those children travel
long distances to school and our wish is to find a partner willing to donate
bicycles to those children,” said Matongo.
Deputy school head Marshall Chiome said despite the
challenges, he was encouraged by what he said was the excellent work ethic at
Chinembiri.
“We don’t have much in terms of resources but we are making
the best out of that little. All our teachers are dedicated but I will single
out our physical education teacher Tendai Kasonde who has greatly improved our
performance in sport
She has also introduced rugby and cricket and is getting
assistance from Kyle College in Masvingo. We thank her for that hard work and
dedication,” said Chiome.

Theileriosis kills hundreds of cattle in Gutu

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Theileriosis kills hundreds of cattle in Gutu


Courage Dutiro
More
than 300 cattle in Gutu have succumbed to
a tick borne disease known as theiloriosis or January disease, the Masvingo
provincial veterinary office has said.
Theileriosis
refers to diseases caused by theileria, which are very small parasites called protozoa.
Different species of theileria cause different diseases in animals, but the two
of most concern are corridor disease and turning sickness.
Provincial
veterinary officer, Enerst Dzimwasha, revealed that the disease has taken a
huge toll on villagers’ cattle in the rural Gutu and so far a total over 300
cattle have been reported to have died in a short space of time.
“We
have received reports from Gutu that Theileriosis has killed about 300 cattle
in Chatsworth and in some other parts of Gutu. We think the number is bigger
than the recorded deaths as some of the death cases are not being reported by
farmers to the veterinary department.
“The
disease is transmitted by ticks and symptoms of the disease include,
depression, weakness and difficulty in breathing for the animal. The affected
animal dies within a few days,” said Dzimwasha.
TellZim
News learnt that the government is failing to provide dipping chemicals to the
veterinary department and Dzimwasha has called on farmers not to wait for the
government but to sacrifice
and buy their own chemicals to dip their cattle.
Dzimwashe
pointed out that the province has about 700 dip tanks and is facing a serious
shortage of dipping chemicals in the province.
“It
is difficult for the department to control and limit the spread of the disease
since there is no longer regular dipping of cattle in the province due to the
shortage of the chemicals. During the rainy season cattle are supposed to be
dipped regularly so as to break the cycle of ticks,” said Dzimwasha.
It
has been learnt that farmers pay a dipping fee of $2 per animal per year but
the government is failing to provide the dipping chemical which farmers are
paying for.

Chiredzi woman jailed for protecting rapist hubby

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Chiredzi woman jailed for protecting rapist hubby


Honour Makovore
CHIREDZI – Magistrate
Constance Mtandwa has sentenced a woman to 36 months in jail for protecting her
husband from prosecution after he repeatedly raped her nine-year-old daughter
between January and February.
The
37-year-old woman, a vendor from Makondo Township who cannot be named to
protect the identity of the minor, used methylated spirits to treat her
daughter’s lacerated private parts after the rape by her 36-year-old husband,
who is step-father to the victim, and failed to report the matter to the
police.
She
was convicted for contravening Section 7 (3) of the Children’s Act Chapter 5.06
which talks about ‘ill-treatment or abuse of children and young persons’, but
12 months of her sentence were suspended on condition of good behavior.
Six
months of the prison sentence were for obstruction of justice and 24 months were
for child abuse, but six months were set aside in condition that she will not
commit a similar offence in the next five years.
The
State, represented by Nyasha Dzirutsva alleged that on an unknown date in
January, the accused, who also cannot be named to protect the identity of the
minor, raped his stepdaughter once and threatened to beat her with an electric
cable if she told anybody.
The
injured girl then told her mother upon her arrival from work but she ordered
her to remain silent.
The
accused then kept on raping there girl and literally tore apart her private
parts until suspicious neighbours alerted the police. All along, the woman was
using methylated spirits to treat the victim’s wounds.
Meanwhile,
her husband is serving an effective 18 years in jail for the rape.

Mwenezi teacher neglects family, drinks 24/7

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Mwenezi teacher neglects family, drinks 24/7

                                                     Joseph Vafi

Cephas Shava
MWENEZI –
Joseph Vafi, a teacher at Batanai Secondary School in Mwenezi reportedly blows
his entire salary on alcoholic drinks while his family suffers severe lack,
month in month out.
This
was revealed by his wife Lavenda Mugwira who dragged Vafi to the Mwenezi Civil
Court claiming $300 maintenance for the upkeep of their two children.
Mugwira
told the court that her husband had totally neglected the duty of taking care
of the family as he always squandered all his monthly earnings on beer.
“Beer
is his only interest and he is not taking care of the children. He drinks beer
from January to December without a break. He doesn’t have even funeral
insurance, meaning he gets his salary in full without any deductions,” Mugwira
told the court.
On
his part Vafi said he could afford to pay $150 per month but magistrate Honest
Musiiwa ordered him to pay a monthly maintenance allowance of $280 for the
upkeep of his two children.  

‘New tertiary education system to create innovators’

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‘New tertiary education system to create innovators’

Courage Dutiro
Tertiary
education minister Professor Amon Murwira has expressed confidence in the new
education system for higher and tertiary institutions saying it will see a
generation of innovators being produced.
Under
the new Education Design 5.0 system, institutions of higher learning will be
able to create graduates who will be able to proffer solutions to the economic
challenges being faced by the country.
In
the previous education system, tertiary institutions have been accused of
churning out half-baked graduates who could not fit into the market.
Speaking
at a public lecture organised by Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) recently,
Professor Murwira said the new system will create graduates who will be fully
equipped to move the country forward and revive the economy.
“We
do not need to attend institutions of higher and tertiary education so as to
acquire certificates and get employed but we need to attend these institutions
so as to acquire skills and knowledge to produce goods, services and ideas.
“We
need to create our own industries in this country, industries do not rain but
they are created. We do not need to continue resuscitating things but we need
to invent new things and this is only possible through the Education Design 5.0,”
said Murwira.
Murwira
said the Education Design 5.0 is an upgrade from the colonial education system
3.0 which was designed to produce workers only.
“The
Education Design 5.0 system is centred on five things which include teaching,
research, community service, innovations and industrialisation while as the 3.0
design was centred on three things which are teaching, research and community
service. The 5.0 education is aimed at producing entrepreneurs not workers,”
said Murwira.

‘Fake maize seed sellers are farmers’ enemy number one’

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‘Fake maize seed sellers are farmers’ enemy number one’


PrecilaTakabvirakare
GUTU –
Seed Services has warned famers in Chavarove resettlement area to be wise when
purchasing seeds and wary of criminals selling counterfeit seeds.
Speaking
at a field day held at Luckson Mukaro homestead in Ward 29, Seed Services
inspector, Tawanda Nguruve gave farmers several tips to consider when
purchasing maize seeds.
He
encouraged farmers to first ask for licences of the shop from where they want to
buy the maize seeds and to know the exact name of the seed they want before
buying.
“Firstly
when getting in the shop you have to look for the licence. If you do not see it,
you have to ask the seller to show you. You also have to carefully look at the
labels and be able to differentiate them. You have to be able to differentiate
between Zimbabwe Super Seeds ZM 401, ZM 309 and ZM 521,” said Nguruve.
He
also encouraged farmers to feel free to go and report any person who sells
maize seeds without licences and those who sell seeds that do not have proper
labels.
“You
have to report those criminals if you come across them selling our maize seeds
without a licence. Do not be afraid because you would be helping yourself and
many other farmers who want to plant genuine seeds,” Nguruve said.
Seed Services is an institute mandated for
seed certification, variety release and variety protection.
It is a unit within the Research Services
Division of the Department of Agricultural Research and Specialist Services
(DR&SS) of the Agriculture ministry, responsible for administration of
Seeds Act [Chapter 19:13] of 1971, Seeds Regulations and Seeds (Certification
Scheme) Notice 2000, and Plant Breeders’ Act [Chapter 18:16].

                        Tawanda Nguruve

CGCDZ stretches helping hand to Cyclone Idai victims

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CGCDZ stretches helping hand to Cyclone Idai victims

Tendai Mange
MASVINGO – Centre
for Gender and Community Development in Zimbabwe (CGCDZ) recently extended a
helping hand to victims of the devastating Cyclone Idai by making substantial
donations through provincial authorities.
Masvingo
province recorded five fatalities in Bikita while thousands were left homeless
in Gutu, Zaka and Chiredzi.
CGCDZ
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elliot Vengesai said it is the duty of every
Zimbabwean to make sure that they help fellow countrymen when the need arises.
“As
Zimbabweans we need to come together and put our differences aside and face the
crisis at hand.
“We
have a lot of people who are in serious need for food and other basics so we
have decided to play our part and offer the little we could get. It may not be
much but it will go a long way in helping those that were affected,” said
Vengesai.
CGCDZ
handed over a donation of clothes, shoes, groceries and sanitary pads to the
Provincial Administrator’s (PA) office at Benjamin Burombo government complex.
PA
Fungai Mbetsa acknowledged the donations saying they will be send directly to
the victims because there is a serious need.
“We
are humbled by the love being shown by Zimbabweans towards their fellow
countrymen. We have proved that we are one people despite the challenges we may
face.
“The
donations from CGCDZ will go a long way in helping those affected by the
cyclone. As you know in Masvingo we have thousands of people who are in need,”
said Mbetsa.

Fake projects scandal: MP Musikavanhu plots to steal CDF

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Fake projects scandal: MP Musikavanhu plots to steal CDF


…uses Zinwa as conduit
in plot to pocket public funds
Beatific Gumbwanda
CHIREDZI – Chiredzi West Member
of Parliament (MP) Farai Musikavanhu is having a hard time explaining why he
mentioned projects that have already been done in his application for the
Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
In his application for the
fund, Musikavanhu claimed he needed the money to drill boreholes and buy pumps
for wards 2, 5, 6 and 8.
TellZim News, however,
understands that those wards have already been covered by the previous CDF
released last year before the end of the term of Musikavanhu’s predecessor
Darlington Chiwa.
It is understood Chiwa did
the drilling work and purchased the pumps in the run-up to the Zanu PF primary
election last year when he was engaged in a bitter contest with Musikavanhu and
former Chiredzi town chairperson Francis Moyo for the right to represent the
ruling party in the July 30 harmonised elections.
Musikavanhu won the chaotic
race and then went on to win the parliamentary seat in the harmonised elections.
Though Chiwa did the
drilling work at all the four spots, he managed to install a pump at only one
of them; the police station in Ward 2.
He could not install the
rest of the pumps apparently because the Zimbabwe National Water Authority
(Zinwa), working under the influence of Musikavanhu, impounded them as intra-party
fights raged ahead of the elections.
Zinwa has held onto the three
pumps ever since despite the water crisis in the wards.
When contacted for comment, Chiwa
confirmed the pumps were seized by Zinwa and taken to their offices where they remain
stuck. He said he too suspected Musikavanhu was plotting to use the pumps for
selfish reasons by pocketing his own CDF payout and presenting the seized pumps
as his own purchase.
“It seems Honourable Musikavanhu
has deprived residents of their right to water for a long time as he looks for
clever ways to divert the next CDF. I heard that when he applied for the CDF,
he mentioned projects that are non-existent as they have already been paid for.
Something is not right there because the drilling was done and the pumps are
already there,” said Chiwa.
When contacted for comment, Farai
Musikavanhu admitted he applied for funds to drill boreholes in wards 2, 5, 6
and 8, but claimed he did not know that the work was already done.
“I was not aware that boreholes
had been drilled in those areas. On my CDF application form, I indeed indicated
that I wanted to drill boreholes in those areas not knowing the work had
already been done there.
“We later agreed with
Honourable Chiwa that in Ward 6, the borehole is contaminated with sewerage and
we needed an electric water pump and solar panels. I will buy those ones so
that we can start an irrigated nutritional garden in the ward,” said
Musikavanhu.
Zinwa regional manager,
Peter Shotere admitted that his organisation was keeping the impounded pumps,
adding that he had initially thought they belonged to ‘command water’.
“Last year, we received
eight pumps from our provincial office and we were informed they belonged to
the command water programme. Two of them were allocated to Chiredzi North, two
to Chiredzi East and four to Chiredzi West. We later learnt that they had been
purchased using money from CDF,” said Shotere.
Other sources urged the
media to track how Musikavanhu will use the CDF, saying there were suspicions
he wanted to misappropriate the money to pay the many runner boys that did his
bidding in the chaotic primaries as well as in the general elections.

Chief Bota calls for Munjanja village head dismissal

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Chief Bota calls for Munjanja village head dismissal

                                                       Kamurai Zezai

Brighton
Chiseva
ZAKA
– Acting Chief Bota, Kamurai
Zezai has called upon responsible authorities to dismiss Munjanja village head,
Phillip Munjanja whom he says is violating the Traditional Leaders Act by
illegally settling villagers.
In a letter dated March 19, 2019 to District
Administrator (DA), Zaka Rural District Council chairperson, Masvingo Chief’s
Council, Provincial Administrator (PA) among others, Zezai appealed for
Munjanja’s removal from the payroll and his investigation on many alleged
offences.
Zaka DA Ndeya Nyede confirmed receiving the letter and
said his office was dealing with the matter. He said Munjanja was not the only
one selling land illegally, warning all village heads against the illegal
practice.
“I received the letter from Chief Bota. He is not
the only one parceling land illegally. We are handling the matter holistically
and procedurally. I cannot preempt this but I can confirm that steps are being
taken to curb this practice which will see drastic action as prescribed in the
Traditional leaders’ act.
“At Ndanga the practice is rampant as well despite
several warnings against the practice. 
Travelling from Jerera to Zaka one can detect the aggression. Actually
they are testing the authorities,” said Nyede
In the letter, Zezai points to reports that Munjanja is
selling land illegally, adding that he carried out his own investigations and
found them authenitc.
“Initially, evidence collected by my messengers and
Headman Chipfekeche indicated that Munjanja has violated the Traditional
Leaders Act (Chapter 20:04) and the Rural District Councils Act (Chapter
20:13).
He allocated land to people at Chidziva business centre
which belongs to Zaka Rural District Council. Twenty-eight households were
allocated residential stands in areas meant for pastures and nine residential
stands were allocated to areas earmarked for Jerera growth point expansion
encroaching into land reserved for St Joseph’s High School expansion,” reads
part of the letter.
He also accuses Munjanja of undermining him and Headman
Chipfekeche and abusing development levies by not receipting paid up villagers.
“I recommend Zaka RDC to investigate Munjanja
without fear or favour and hand him to the police. All illegal structures
constructed around Jerera be demolished, Philip Munjanja be suspended as
village head Munjanja,” reads part of the letter.
When contacted for comment, Munjanja said dismissed
Zezai’s allegations, saying the acting chief was out to tarnish his good name.
“The chief has interests in my village. He wants to
give my village to Chipfekeche but I won a court case against them recently and
theirs are just ways to fight me and soil my name,” said Munjanja.

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