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Angry Zaka parent assaults school head, SDC chair over injured pupil

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Angry Zaka parent assaults school head, SDC chair over injured pupil
Image result for beaula shambambeva pic
Beaula Shambambeva

Brighton Chiseva
ZAKA – Manyiri Primary School deputy head, school clerk and the School Development Committee (SDC) chairperson were recently assaulted by an angry parent whose grade six pupil, Brian Mutasa, had been injured in a soccer training session.
The matter was not reported to the police because the victims are afraid of further victimisation by the feared parent.
Sources in the area said they were afraid of the pupil’s father who happens to be the area’s village head and a traditional healer.
Zaka acting District Schools Inspector (DSI) Beaula Shambambeva confirmed the incident, saying she had since visited the school.
“Sport is part of the new curriculum. If a pupil gets injured, parents and the school should work together so what the parent did is uncalled for because teachers will now be afraid to help the child and other pupils.
“We are happy, however, that the school played its part in shouldering the medical expenses of the injured pupil,” said Shambambeva.
Sources said when the boy was injured, the school rushed him to Mashoko Mission Hospital where he was referred to Masvingo Provincial Hospital before being transferred to Harare.
“They were working together with Sabhuku Mutasa but the relationship turned sour when the school failed to send transport fees in time when the boy was discharged from hospital in Harare. His father is known to be very harsh,” said a source.local

Voters think local govt elections not that important, new report finds

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Voters think local govt elections not that important, new report finds

Clever Taperamoyo
MASVINGO – The We Pay You Deliver (WPYD) Consortium on Tuesday, June 19, launched a local government election survey report titled ‘The Uncertainty of 2018’ whose findings point to low interest in local government elections.
Different political players, council officials and other stakeholders attended the launch at Urban Lifestyle Guest House in Rhodene.
The report is a result of a survey conducted in Bulawayo, Harare, Chitungwiza, Gweru, Mutare and Masvingo between August and October 2017.
The report highlights that the electorate and political parties do not attach as much priority on local government elections as they do on the parliamentary and presidential vote.
Some 53.1 percent of respondents felt the harmonisation of elections affected the importance of council elections.
It also shows that in the upcoming elections, the local government vote will be split between the Movement Democratic Change (MDC) and Zanu PF at 23.3 and 15.1 percent respectively. Some 50 percent of participants were afraid to answer questions.
In his presentation, Davison Muchadenyika, one of the researchers, touched on such areas as councillor performance ratings and voter preferences, prioritisation of local government elections and the role of civil society, mayor`s functions as well as  the future and credibility of the electoral process.
“Political parties are urged to prioritise council elections by fielding candidates with a traceable record of public service commitment or excellence in other sectors,” Muchadenyika said.
Speaking at the same event, Dr Takavafirei Zhou said the findings were critical in interpreting voters’ attitude towards the country’s electoral processes.
“The major problem is the politicisation of local council. We do not have political sanity in Zimbabwe though we appreciate the effort taken in coming up with this report. Our real challenge is on leadership; we need to have a paradigm shift from politics to potential, where the electorate chooses councillors with potential not along partisan lines,” Dr Zhou said.
City of Masvingo mayor, Hubert Fidze said councillors appreciated the effort behind the research and its importance in providing scientific information to policy makers.
He also urged all councillors and aspiring councillors to familiarise themselves with the report.
The WPYD consortium partners include Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Alliance (MURRA), Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA), Habakkuk Trust and Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA).local

WCoZ, City of Gweru in service delivery talks

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WCoZ, City of Gweru in service delivery talks

Tinaani   Nyabereka.
GWERU – The local chapter of Woman Coalition of Zimbabwe, (WCoZ) last week tabled a list of service delivery grievances that it said should be urgently attended to by Gweru City Council if imminent serious health problems are to be prevented.
Speaking at a meeting held with council officials at Town House, WCoZ director of finance, Edgar Mwedzi pointed out many service delivery shortcomings including erratic water supplies, saying urgent measures had to be taken to address the crisis.
“Erratic water provision is a big problem. Discussions we have held with residents revealed that most tapes are dry during the day, with water coming only around midnight every day. The quality is also deplorable as the water is rusty in colour and has flying objects.
“Some households have dug unprotected wells that pose serious health challenges as the water is not treated and the wells are also a breeding ground for mosquitoes. There have been reported cases of young children losing their lives after falling into the unprotected wells,” said Mwedzi.
The organisation also called for a more regular collection of refuse to stop the sprouting of undesignated dumpsites.
“Council has been failing to collect refuse as often as it should. This has led to a sprouting of undesignated dumpsites in the city’s high density areas of Mkoba, Ascot, Mambo, Mutapa and Senga.
“Besides being an eyesore, the dumpsites are also a potential source of such diseases as malaria as well as other water and airborne diseases caused by mosquitoes and houseflies. The undesignated dumpsites also contribute to the blockage of drainage systems in the city,” said Mwedzi.
City of Gweru director of health services, Wilson Chivasa said council was well-aware that most households had no bins and that most residents were failing to separate waste from source. 
“We are aware that most residents have no bins and they are failing to properly manage waste disposal. On fears of a malarial outbreak – Gweru is a non-malaria zone. We, however, have a rapid response team which is always ready to investigate any cases of possible disease outbreaks,” Chivasa said.
He appealed for the coalition to help educate people on waste management and water conservation.local
    

Chiwa threat: Sleepless nights for Zanu PF in Chiredzi West

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Chiwa threat: Sleepless nights for Zanu PF in Chiredzi West

Darlington Chiwa

Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI – Incumbent Chiredzi West legislator, Darlington Chiwa, who automatically expelled himself from Zanu PF by registering to contest as an independent after losing to Farai Musikavanhu in the primaries, is giving the ruling party sleepless nights in the constituency.
Sources in the ruling party told TellZim News that many bigwigs will soon visit the town to try persuade Chiwa to withdraw from the race.
Local party leaders are also going out of their way to discredit Chiwa, with Musikavanhu last weekend addressing a rally in Ward 27, Triangle, where the anti-Chiwa diatribe reigned supreme.
The meeting was attended by the provincial leadership of the party and several war veterans.
Chiredzi war veterans’ chairperson, Killer Makuni branded Chiwa a sell-out, saying the MP had proved beyond doubt that he was not loyal to the party.
“We should only be following Zanu PF not independent candidates. Chiwa should come to apologise to us war veterans in order for us to accept him. Pasi naChiwa,” said Makuni.
Chiwa and Makuni clashed last year, with the former opposing wholesale invasion of Tongaat Hulett’s sugarcane plantation for resettlement purposes.
Speaking at the same meeting, the party’s provincial vice chairperson, Ailes Baloyi said Chiwa had no vote in Chiredzi West as all people were going to vote for Zanu PF only.
“This (Ward 27) is where Chiwa has a strong base and we want to assure you that he won’t get anything. People will be voting for Zanu PF not independent candidates,” said Baloyi.
Provincial chairperson, Ezra Chadzamira also threw his weight behind Musikavanhu, describing Chiwa as an untrustworthy individual who faked love for Zanu PF.
“We watched him for a long time as he pretended to be one of one of us. On nomination day, we saw him coming to register as a candidate. So if you are Zanu PF, disassociate yourself with Chiwa and work with Musikavanhu,” said Chadzamira.politics

‘Rutenga Housing Cooperative secretary disappears with US$24 000’

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‘Rutenga Housing Cooperative secretary disappears with US$24 000’


Cephas Shava

MWENEZI – Rutenga Housing Cooperative (RHC) secretary, Lackson Nezira has reportedly disappeared with US$24 000 contributed by about 500 Rutenga home seekers, TellZim News has learnt.
Believed to be now hiding in South Africa, Nezira is said to have accessed the money by forging the signatures of two other signatories to the cooperative’s Steward Bank Account.
The money is said to have been transferred to several other accounts, with some reportedly moved out of the account via RTGS on different occasions.
Masvingo police spokesperson Insp Kudakwashe Dhewa confirmed that the case was reported in August last year but could not give further details.
Sources privy to the matter, however, said a docket had already been opened against all the signatories.
Repeated efforts by TellZim News to contact Nezira failed as his mobile phone was not reachable.
“There is Nezira, the treasurer and the chairperson but it is Nezira who forged his colleagues’ signatures,” said a source.
Other sources said one of the other two signatories has also fled after learning that the police were now looking into the matter.
Several victims of the alleged loot expressed despair, saying they were not likely to recover their money.
“The cooperative was legally registered and we put our hope in it because we believed in the competency and trustworthiness of Nezira, our own son from Mwenezi. Since the end of 2016, I contributed a total of US$450 hoping that by the end of December this year, I would have finish all the payment and have a stand of my own,” said one victim.crime

Overwhelmed by cash shortages

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Overwhelmed by cash shortages


…ED shifts focus to ‘cashless’ economy

Upenyu Chaota

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s call for people to embrace a more cashless economy while delivering his speech at Mucheke Stadium disappointed many people who are putting up with bank queues every day to get as little as US$30, TellZim News has found.
Delivering his speech before a massive crowd drawn from all corners of Masvingo province last week, Mnangagwa said developed countries have found a way of doing away with cash transactions and adopted a cashless society where plastic money takes centre stage.
“Developed countries have become cashless where there is little use for cash but swiping. We are currently engaging the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to introduce Point of Sale (POS) machines across the country so that all people will be able to swipe.
“We are working on that so that all the people even those in rural areas would be able to swipe. Only 10 percent of transactions would require cash. As the economy improves, the availability of cash will improve as well but at the moment, we must go where developing countries are going and not where they are coming from,” said Mnangagwa.
He, however, failed to acknowledge the fact that though developed countries might be using electronic payment methods a lot, there is no cash shortages in the banks for those who want it.
Earlier this year, Mnangagwa reportedly turned down his salary brought to his offices in a money bag, saying he would rather join the queue like everybody else than be given special treatment.
Surprisingly, Mnangagwa used a crispy US$20 bill when he performed a public stunt by joining a queue at a Chicken Inn outlet in Chegutu, bought some food and tipped the cashier.
Banks no longer dispense US dollar bills but only bond notes and coins.local

DocZine refuses to compromise on cash

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DocZine refuses to compromise on cash

…despite President’s calls for ‘cashless’ economy

Brighton Chiseva

MASVINGO – While President Emmerson Mnangagwa has urged the public to emulate developed countries and adopt electronic payment systems, Masvingo fuel businessman, Phillip Mapfumo has continued with his demands for cash payments at his fuel service station.
Popularly known as ‘Phidza’, Mapfumo runs the DocZine service station that is situated in the industrial areas. He is also believed to be the owner of a chain of other businesses in town under the DocZine stable.
TellZim News reported recently that his fuel business was turning away customers who did not have cash, with Masvingo Provincial Affairs minister, Josaya Hungwe promising to institute an investigation against the business.
There are rumours that DocZine is demanding cash payments for externalisation purposes, with the business having been named as one of the culprits in the President’s list of externalisers which was released in March.
According to the list, the company externalised US$36 778 in the category of funds externalised through payment of goods not received in Zimbabwe.
During his rally at Mucheke Stadium last Friday, Mnangagwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga took time to encourage the use of plastic money even for minor transactions, saying conditions in the economy demanded that there be a change of approach.local

Cultural tourism in Chipinge: Paiyapo Arts and Heritage Training Centre

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Cultural tourism in Chipinge: Paiyapo Arts and Heritage Training Centre
A granary hut at the cultural centre
Knowledge Mhlanga
CHIPINGE – There is an agreement among scholars and all people that culture is a very important component of every society, and that a people’s values, customs and language should be preserved, relayed and documented so that posterior generations will know who they are and where they originated.
Cultural preservation is also critical in nurturing fully conscious future generations without an identity crisis. Culture means a whole way of life of any particular nation, organisation, tribe or group of people.
This includes way of dress, art, beliefs, social life, symbols, food and several common aspects that unify a group of people with common characteristics.
Manicaland has several tourist attractions that include the famous Nyanga Mountains, The Devuli Range, the Ngungunyani Forest, Hot Springs and Musirizwi Falls.
Last month, government launched its National Tourism Master Plan as well as a Community Based Tourism Enterprise (CBTE) Manual and Handbook that were developed with the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) to help develop tourism at local level.
For a special feel of Ndau culture, however, one should visit the Paiyapo Arts and Heritage Training Centre in the Bangira area under Chief Musikavanhu in Ward 17.
Founded by Phillip Kusasa Bangira, the place celebrates and explores Ndau culture while offering a platform for the exhibition of different other cultures.
The centre hosts the annual Ndau Festival of the Arts, an event which pulls hundreds of people and many institutions every September.
It is located in a woody thicket to depict a typical African village homestead setup, with different types of thatched huts and grain storage structures.
In the huts are different types of Ndau artistic and cultural artefacts superbly crafted for different purposes.
These include clay pots for traditional beer brewing and storage, other clay pots for cooking and decorative purposes as well as special crafts and home utensils traditionally used by the Ndau people.
There are also different kinds of traditional home property and tools that would form a Ndau home of a traditional make-up.
There is also a setting for a court of elders (dare) as well as a meandering stream of flowing water and traditional Ndau fishing nets.
Water to drink can be fetched at a weir close by while a spacious gallery awaits those who wish to get an appreciation of a wide collection of Ndau artefacts that depict a rich cultural background of local people. These include drawings, sculptures and rock art.
If anything, the gallery can be seen as a collection of tangible evidence of local sophistication which helps to debunk stereotypes about Ndau people and their way of life.
There is also the Women’s Museum which is another interesting feature at Paiyapo Arts and Training Centre. The museum honours the importance which Ndau culture attaches to the role of women in society.
Of interest too is a natural Africa map-shaped rock which amazes all visitors to the centre due to its almost accurate depiction of the shape of the continent.
There is also a collection of indigenous plants and herbs, including the rarest of plants that are being preserved from extinction.
In an interview, Bangira said the centre was established as a response to cultural erosion which threatens to leave Ndau people without knowledge of who they are and their place in society.
“We have done this for the sake of the many generations that will come. We want people to be proud of their heritage and their past. The Ndau language is a good language that defines our identity as a people. We invite people from all over the country to come and see the work we are doing here,” said Bangira.
He said he was pleased that the centre had helped improve business activities in the Bangira area through a steady flow of tourists.
He also said he was working hard to increase the popularity of the Ndau Festival of the Arts so that more people can appreciate their identity.
The festival has so far proved to be the district’s most innovative way of celebrating local culture through exhibitions, poetry, dance, exchanges and other activities.business


Dejected Rushinga farmers ponder future without cotton

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Dejected Rushinga farmers ponder future without cotton
Chiundidzi works on his bale of cotton

Alexio Rashirai
RUSHINGA – Low international lint prices have affected cotton growers globally and even worse for Zimbabwe whose farmers’ competitiveness in the field has been declining over the years.
Due to even lower cotton prices, most people in Rushinga have now resorted to growing groundnuts and some have tried tobacco.
Insing Company, which used to quote fairly reasonable rates, closed its ginnery in Rushinga owing to low cotton deliveries, dealing a devastating blow to the hundreds of people that the company used to employ.
The effects were also felt by such farmers as 52-year-old Givemore Chiundudzi.
Wearing a blue work suit jacket, with a cap sitting in a slanting position over his grizzled head and his hands clutching a log which he uses to ram his cotton bags, Chiundudzi is trying to imagine a ‘cottonless’ future now that conditions are deteriorating.
He sits on a curved wooden tree trunk, half the size of a drum, with several bags of packed cotton lined in front of him.
“All the cotton in these plastics must go into this bale. The more the bale weighs, the more it fetches. If it were long ago, I could be rich with this one bale,” he says as he sticks more cotton from the plastics into the bale lying on the ground.
This is his only bale for the year, from which he hopes to get money to meet all his family needs until the next harvest, though he is not even sure how much the bale will fetch.
“I do not know. It depends on how much it will weigh. They are buying at 47 cents per kg and this bale weighs probably 200 kg. In the past, you could buy a cow, build a three-bedroomed house and do anything else after selling a bale like this. Now one bale cannot give you anything,” Chiundudzi complaints.
He says even though most of the cotton farmers have entered into contract farming with Cottco, which provides them with inputs that is seeds, fertilisers and spray pumps for free, all of them were not happy with the 47 cents/kg buying prize.
“Upon delivery, we are given $20 cash and the rest is put into our EcoCash wallets. To get the money out the phone is very expensive; you pay $28 or $30 for every $100 you want in cash. They are ripping us off and leaving us poorer.
“Cotton is our cash crop here but many people have since diverted to tobacco farming due to the unfavourable conditions. It is also not easy to grow tobacco here because our soils are better suited for cotton,” he says.business

What went wrong? Rusape man explores Zim crisis in new book

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What went wrong? Rusape man explores Zim crisis in new book

Shingirai Vambe
RUSAPE – Lawrence Khupe, a Rusape youth who graduated from the Midlands State University (MSU) in Gweru last year, has launched a book titled What Went Wrong? Zimbabwe Since 2000.
The book, which explores the country’s most tumultuous period which began with Hondo Yeminda in 2000, was launched on June 16 at Khupe Law Chambers in Rusape.
It revisits the formation of the Movement for Democratic Change in 1999, the 2005 Land Redistribution Act, the political horrors of 2008, Robert Mugabe’s increasing authoritarianism, the Look East policy and the ‘New Dispensation’.
In an interview, Khupe revealed it took him two years to complete the book, saying he was motivated by a strong passion for the documentation of the social, economic and political crisis that have plagued the country for so long.
“I am a historian and a holder of a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and International Studies. This is really my passion and I would like to do my part in highlighting our past for the sake of future generations,” said Khupe.
The guest of honour at the launch was Treasure Basopo, the Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) chairperson at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) who last year led thousands of students in a demonstration against the awarding of a controversial PhD to Grace Mugabe.
“Few Zimbabwean experiences are documented by Zimbabweans and others are not documented at all. I take this opportunity to acknowledge Khupe’s hard work in publishing a book as we stand closer to a new dawn than ever before. We have so much to deliver and much is expected from us the younger generation in the future of Zimbabwe,” Basopo said.
The book was published by Pfumojena Printing and Stationary company.entertainment

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