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MDC member acquitted of shutdown violence charges

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MDC member acquitted of shutdown violence charges
Givemore Makandire

Darlington Kanyongo


ZVISHAVANE – A local graphic designer is now a free man after the court acquitted him on charges of being involved in the violence that rocked the country during the shutdown protests last month.
 Givemore Makandire, who owns Jive Studios was acquitted at the close of the State’s case this week after the court found the State’s case against him very weak.
Makandire is an MDC-Alliance member who contested for the Runde Rural District Council (RDC) Ward 9 council seat and lost to a Zanu PF candidate during last year’s harmonised elections.
One of the State’s witnesses in the case was well-known Zanu PF supporter Ngazimbi Chese whose evidence, however, failed to convince the court.
Makandire, Tapiwa Matshona and Sheunesu Nyoni appeared before resident magistrate Archie Wochiunga facing charges of obstructing or endangering free movement of persons or traffic as defined in Section 38(c) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.
The case initially had seven accused persons before four of them were discharged.
It was the State’s case that on January 15 at 07:00hrs, the accused persons, who were acting in common purpose and in concert, went to the 5km peg along Zvishavane-Gweru Road where they erected stone barricades and lit a tyre.
Jabulani Tasvika and Ngazimbi then reported the group to the police.
Lloyd Maviza represented the State.

Chiredzi illegal settlers spared

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Chiredzi illegal settlers spared

The eviction exercise would have seen hundreds of families being evicted from Zero Farm in Masvingo Rural district, their home for 19 years

…as wary Zanu PF fears destabilising key voting bloc

Beatific Gumbwanda


CHIREDZI – A Zanu PF Masvingo Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) meeting recently shot down government’s plans to evict thousands of illegally resettled farmers in Chiredzi North and some parts of Chiredzi West, saying those farmers must be regularised.
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement had announced that government was taking steps to correct irregularities created by the chaotic Land Reform Programme.
Zanu PF Masvingo provincial secretary for information and publicity, Ronald Ndava told TellZim News removing the farmers would be tantamount to abandoning the party’s vital voting bloc.
Chiredzi North constituency recorded a very high number of Zanu PF voters, rivalling the perennial voting giant of Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe in last year’s harmonised elections.
“No one is going to be evicted from where they were settled but people will be reorganised according to the plan in which there will be separation of A1 and A2 farmers. A1 farmers should be ploughing 6ha and grazing their livestock on 14ha, meaning each family will have 20ha,” said Ndava.
He said the party acknowledged that there were many people who were settled illegally by local party chairpersons and kraal heads.
“We have families that were allocated land by village heads, some were settled along river banks while others settled in wildlife sanctuaries. These areas are not for human settlement.
“Under such circumstances, authorities will be reorganising the people. They will move people who are wrongly settled to regularised farms. No one is going back to the reserves; this will just be an excise to solve issues related to the accessibility of drinking water, schools and clinics while differentiating between grazing, cropping and settlement places within a community,” Ndava said.
A few weeks ago, Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs, Ezra Chadzamira who is the also the ruling party’s provincial chairperson, said government was going to remove all irregularly settled people in Masvingo and Chiredzi North districts.
Areas which were under spotlight in Chiredzi North include such properties as Lavanga, Masapasi, Angus and Mukazi which are all said to be covered by Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPAs) as well as other properties like Feversham, Arda Magudu, Mutirikwe Section, Wasara Wasara and Chegwite.

July Moyo sides with Sachikonye in tussle for Ridgemont ownership

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July Moyo sides with Sachikonye in tussle for Ridgemont ownership
Rusape Town Secretary Solomon Gabaza

…Disappointed Rusape Town Council plots fight back

Shingirai Vambe


RUSAPE – The Minister of Local Government Public Works and National Housing, July Moyo has told Rusape Town Council that Ridgemond Park belongs to Norman Sachikonye.
Sachikonye who is a land developer, reportedly bought Vhudzi Farm years back to develop a low and medium density housing project which he named Ridgemond Park.
Rusape Town Council has, however, been trying to seize the land, claiming that it was gazetted as council property which it needed for its own urban expansion plans.
Sachikonye, however, produced papers, plans and the agreement which he had made with the previous council which had Joshua Maligwa as town secretary.
The agreement covered many areas including Sachikonye being required to set up a water reticulation system which would also benefit council’s own Magamba project, and it also required him to pay $42 000. Council has, however, failed to make any meaningful progress at Magamba.
Current town secretary Solomon Gabaza and previous council chairperson Amon Chawasarira rejected the initial agreement, leaving Sachikonye to turn to the ministry for recourse.
Of the 1000 residential stands that Sachikonye wanted to service at Vhudzi Farm, only 261 have been cleared and council has resisted approving the rest.
In a report which came last week Thursday after almost a year’s work, principal director in the ministry, Errica Jones states that Ridgemond Park belongs to Norman Sachikonye and Diagonal Investments.
Upon Jones’ submission of the report and recommendations from the minister, Gabaza stood and asked if the report could be set aside pending the outcome of a report by the commission of enquiry into the sale of land in and around urban areas since 2005.
Jones agreed to put the ministry’s findings aside and wait for the commission of enquiry’s own report.
The commission of enquiry was put in place by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in late 2018, and it went around the country doing its work.

Stray elephant tramples Marange teacher to death

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Stray elephant tramples Marange teacher to death

Courage Dutiro


MUTARE – A 48-year-old Marange man was trampled to death by an elephant which is suspected to have strayed from Save Conservancy as cases of human-wildlife conflicts continue to rise in Manicaland.
Manicaland police spokesperson Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa confirmed the incident which occurred last Sunday morning under Chief Marange in Masvaure village.
The deceased has been identified as James Musiwacho, a secondary teacher at St Andrew’s Mweyamutsvene High school.
“Musiwacho was part of a group of villagers that had gone out to see and take pictures of a herd of six elephants that had been spotted by village head Nowell Masvaure,” said Kakohwa.
Musiwacho met his fate when one of the elephants charged towards them and he failed to escape, resulting in his tragic death.
Zimparks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo extended his condolences to the deceased’s family and community, saying it was sad that another life had been lost in such a manner.
Farawo said the growing elephant population in the Save Conservancy was to blame for the increasing cases of human-wildlife conflict.
He said the elephant population in the area had exceeded the carrying capacity, and urged members of the public not to drive away big wild animals without professional guidance.
“There has been a ballooning elephant population in our reserves exceeding the holding capacities resulting in some of the animals straying into communal areas.
“We thereby urge members of the public to desist from attempts to drive away wildlife without professional guidance. Members of the public should immediately alert authorities once wildlife is spotted in communal areas,” Farawo said.
He also warned villagers not to drive their livestock into game reserves for grazing to avoid the spread of animal diseases as well as attracting wildlife to their herds.

Silveira Mission’s Father Magama celebrates silver jubilee in priesthood

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Silveira Mission’s Father Magama celebrates silver jubilee in priesthood

Christine Shenjere

Father Cuthbert Magama (pictured) marked the silver jubilee of his ordination as a Roman Catholic Priest with a solemn Eucharistic celebration at Gokomere Mission last Saturday.
Scores of people gathered to celebrate the life of Magama who was described as a selfless priest focused on preaching the word of God.
In his speech, Magama thanked God for keeping him alive in the past 25 years of priesthood and pledged to keep on preaching the gospel.
“It is God who has kept me to be who I am today. The past 25 years have been blessed and I will continue spreading the gospel because I was called to preach the word of God,” said Magama.
Delivering his remarks during the celebrations, Gweru Diocese Vicar General Augustine Chirikadzi hailed Magama for serving with dedication and honest in his long journey with the church.
“Father Magama is a selfless person, I knew him since we were at the seminary. I can safely say he is dedicated to preaching the word and bringing people to the serving knowledge of God,” said Chirikadzi.
Chirikadzi also said Magama was a role model for upcoming priests, urging others to continue serving the church with dedication and honesty.
The celebrations were also graced by Masvingo Diocese Bishop Michael Bhasera, Vicar and many other priests.
The celebrations were also attended by various church members from Masvingo and Gweru Diocese who came in their numbers to celebrate Magama’s excellent work in priesthood.
Magama, who is a holder of PhD degree in Theology, was born on February 18, 1968 in Chivi district.
He previously served at St Kizito Parish in Kadoma, St Joseph in Beitbridge, St Don Bosco in Masvingo, St Joseph’s Minor Seminary in Gaborone Diocese, Mutero Mission in Gutu, Gokomere Mission and is currently at Silveira Mission in Bikita.

Against the odds, Mapanzure High boldly moves

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Against the odds, Mapanzure High boldly moves




Diana Gondongwe

Mapanzure High has recorded a tremendous improvement in its performance at ‘O’ level, with the release of the 2018 examination results reflecting tangible progress the school is making against all the odds.
The government school, which has over the recent years sought to set itself apart from the ordinary rural school through a well-defined and consistent drive for advancement, managed to obtain a 34 percent overall pass rate for the pupils who sat for Zimsec examinations in November 2018.
Mapanzure High School’s pass rate exceeds the 32 percent national average, and it comes against a backdrop of renewed economic difficulties in the education sector.
The school also offers Higher Education Examination Council (Hexco) exams for which a 62 percent pass rate was obtained from among the pupils who sat last year.
Mapanzure High School head, Clepos Chauraya said the school was united in one forward-looking spirit which is making the school a dynamic centre of secondary education.
“We have maintained that we are there to exceed expectations and that’s exactly what we are doing. Our struggles and obstacles might not be similar to that other school’s obstacles, and we have therefore set for ourselves a unique bar by which we will continue to measure our performance and do self-assessment. Members of staff, the SDC, parents and pupils share the vision of growing this humble school to a better setting,” Chauraya said.
He encouraged parents to do their best to pay their children’s fees and clear arrears, saying the school needed every coin it could get to develop learning standards.
Mapanzure High became one of the very first rural government schools to buy a bus in early 2016, a development which has seen the school saving money that had hitherto been spent on hiring services.

Future lies in ideas, says Mboweni

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Future lies in ideas, says Mboweni
Douglas Mboweni

Tinaani Nyabereka


GWERU – Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Douglas Mboweni has called upon institutions and industries to digitalise and come up with new innovations, saying the world today demanded forward looking thought.
Speaking at the Midlands State University (MSU) Conference on Economic Transformation and Governance in Emerging Economies recently, Mboweni said digitalisation had become the language of the world.
“We are now in the world without borders due to digitalisation. So the beautiful aspect is now the joining of people to things through use of technology. The key elements to make it in development is to disrupt on a large scale because you cannot develop without disruption. So as institutions, I urge you to innovate, disrupt, transform, create and inspire. If we cannot digitalise, we can then go home and sleep,” said Mboweni whose stay at Econet saw the birth of EcoCash, which disrupted conventional banking and sparked a mobile money revolution.
The highly respected corporate executive said Zimbabwe was lagging behind in terms of technology.
“We need to upgrade ourselves and move with technology because we are lagging behind. If we say by 2030, we want to achieve this goal, we can definitely achieve it as a nation because we have been given the capacity to explain the why concept, then we instruct and strike the hub.
“The future is now in ideas. Zimbabwe has a high literacy rate but are we capitalising it to promote digital innovation in business?” said Mboweni, whose company is one of the biggest by both innovation and market capitalisation,
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Fanuel Tagwira said the country’s education was currently divorced from the industrial aspect.
“It’s high time our institutions get involved in the phenomenon of making industries because our education is now supposed to make goods and services. If you look at our education, you can see how divorced it is from the industrial formula. We need partnership to solve these problems,” said Tagwira.

Man beats up police officers, throws plate of sadza at them

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Man beats up police officers, throws plate of sadza at them

Monalisa Matongo

A tout has been sentenced to 105 hours of community service for resisting arrest and assaulting four police officers at Family Of God (FOG) church illegal commuter pick up point along Robert Mugabe Road.
Martin Masiyiwa (21) was charged with acting unlawfully, as defined in Section 176 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 and was convicted by ,magistrate Rufaro Mangwiro.
It was the State’s case that Masiyiwa is alleged to have resisted police officer Goodwell Chingwenya’s attempts to arrest him after being found touting.
The accused was further alleged to have assaulted the police officer and threw a plate of sadza on him and on another police officer identified as Philemon Madondo.
He went on to strike them on their bodies with fists and kicked a female police officer Tariro Masenda on the foreheadand. He also attacked another police officer Robbin Chamayi Mapotsa with clenched fists.
Masiyiwa, however, admitted to attacking only one officer, not all of them.
The four police officers went for medical treatment and the medical reports were expected to be produced in court as exhibits.
Andrew Ndaramira appeared for the State.

Masvingo police accused of stealing confiscated drugs

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Masvingo police accused of stealing confiscated drugs


Courage Dutiro

A self-confessed drug peddler has suggested that police officers who arrested him on February 06 could have stolen part of the stockpile they confiscated from him as only a few bottles of the dangerous drugs were declared to the court.
Appearing before magistrate Peter Madiba on Friday last week, Morgan Chimahwinya (27) of Sisk in Masvingo said he was surprised that State papers made mention of only 37 bottles of the much abused broncleer cough syrup instead of the 151 bottles he claimed the police confiscated from him.
Chimahwinya, who pleaded guilty, was being charged for breaching the Medicines and Allied Substances Control Act.
“They took from me 151 bottles of broncleer not the 37 they are alleging,” Chimahwinya confidently told the court.
The magistrate, however, said the case will proceed on what was written on State papers and that Chimahwinya’s allegations against the police was a different case that will have to be investigated separately.
If Chimahwinya’s allegations are anything to go by, it means 114x100ml of the drug disappeared while in the hands of State actors.
It was the State’s case that acting on a tipoff on February 06, police found Chamahwinya in possession of 37x100ml of broncleer in Kaguvi St, Sisk Township and arrested him.
Trynos Madaka represented the State.

Rights Forum documents 1 803 Army, Police violations

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Rights Forum documents 1 803 Army, Police violations

TellZim reporter

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has compiled some 1803 violations committed most-ly by the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) in the past few weeks following the national shutdown protests.
Security forces have been accused of taking a heavy-handed response to the protests; with vide-os, audios and pictures of battered and brutalised civilians dominating the social media scene over the past three weeks.
“The violations of human rights that started as the state’s response to mass protests on 14 Janu-ary, 2019 following the increase in fuel prices immediately took a widespread systematic charac-ter, the dominant actors being the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), the Zimbabwe Republic Po-lice (ZRP) and suspected ZANU-PF militia.  The systematic and sustained nature of the viola-tions raises fear that this is becoming a case of crimes against humanity,” the confederation of human rights civic organisations says in a report released on February 06.
The report compiled 17 extra-judicial killings, 16 rapes, one case of sexual assault, 26 abductions, 61 displacements, 81 gunshot assaults, 586 other assaults, 51 cases of destruction of property, 954 arbitrary arrests and 10 incidents of harassment of journalists committed largely by security forces.
“Post-protest retribution by the ZRP and ZNA officers resulted in the warehouse arrest and de-tention of over 954 people across the country, including children between nine to 16 years. The highest recorded arrests were in Harare followed by Bulawayo, then Midlands. There were also many arrests in Mashonaland West provinces,” the report says.
“As the Forum continues to monitor the situation and keep the world updated, it is important that national leadership from all sectors be seen to play a positive role in ending the ongoing vio-lations and charting a new way towards the peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflicts,” the re-port say in conclusion.
In many videos, police and soldiers in uniform were seen pulling people from their homes and savagely attacking them; triggering an international outcry that has left President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s regime as isolated as was his predecessor Robert Mugabe’s.

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