Clayton Shereni

Residents of some parts of the Rujeko A high density in Masvingo disappointed by the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission Distribution Company (ZETDC)’s failure to replace a damaged transformer in their area, resulting in them spending almost three months in the dark.
Some 125 houses in Rujeko A are affected by the problem which began with a transformer explosion on December 07, 2018.
One resident accused the Zesa subsidiary of being the most inept government parastatal, saying their Masvingo office was manned by reckless people with no regards to what is expected of their work.
“We had an electricity fault here in Rujeko on December 07 last year but up until now, ZETDC has done nothing to rectify the problem. They have condemned us to darkness for all these weeks and there is no hope they will act,” said the resident.
A WhatsApp group created in a bid to get answers from the authorities has Masvingo Urban Member of Parliament (MP) Jacob Nyokanhete, Mayor Collen Maboke and Ward 7 Councillor as members.
In the group, Nyokanhete says he approached ZETDC who told him they did not have transformers, while attempts to engage the office of the Minister of Energy Jorum Gumbo also yielded nothing.
In a follow-up interview with this publication, Nyokanhete said one of the engineers told him they had dealt with a similar problem in Ward 1 (Mucheke) and were now moving to attend to the Rujeko problem.
“The last time I talked to Engineer Shungu, he only told me about the restoration of power in Ward 1 and that they were now moving on to deal with the Rujeko issue. He however did not provide any time frames.
“I am in Harare and I will try to see the Minister of Energy so that we map the way forward on the issue,” said Nyokanhete.
Eastern Region ZETDC network manager Jacqueline Hlatshwayo declined to comment on the issue but referred all matters to the marketing officer.
“I am not allowed to speak to the press so let me give you the contact of our marketing officer who will help you. I will send the contact to you,” said Hlatshwayo.
However, Hlatshwayo did not sent the contact as she promised and when this publication tried to make a follow up she began hanging up the calls.

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.

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.