MASVINGO – Shamiso Tavaruva, a daughter to erstwhile successful passenger transport businessman Tanda Tavaruva, of Mhunga Bus Services, is in trouble with the law after she allegedly ganged up with one Donald Manenji to assault their friend’s ex-husband.
The incident reportedly happened at Chesvingo business centre, popularly known as Sisk, on Wednesday, February 21.
The case was reported to Chikato Police Station and is pending before the courts of law.
Sources said Shamiso and Manenji approached Zivanai Chikwanda at the business centre and started to accuse him of ill-treating his ex-wife Ruth Maregwede.
Manenji is a soldier and he works in the military ward at Masvingo Provincial Hospital.
Maregwede is apparently friends with Shamiso and Manenji, and she reportedly drinks with them at the business centre on occasional basis.
The pair allegedly started beating Chikwanda in the face using fists, and were reportedly joined in the brutal assault by Maregwede who was close by.
Chikwanda, who reportedly suffered severe face injuries and became unconscious for a while, was then forced into the boot of a car and driven to Chikato Police Station.
At the police station, Shamiso and Manenji reported that they had found Chikwanda beating his ex-wife and had restrained him.
Chikwanda was then arrested and he spent two nights in police cells but the case could not be heard in court because the victim’s medical affidavit contained gross errors of omission.
Manenji reportedly prepared the affidavit but did not append his name on it as he is not a medical doctor.
It was then recommended that the case proceed by way of summons with Chikwanda taking the opportunity to file his own assault counter report against his alleged attackers.local

Joosbi Omar

Clever Taperamoyo

Gutu Rural District Council (RDC) and the National Railway Zimbabwe (NRZ) are engaged in a vicious fight over ownership of 23 largely derelict houses situated in Rubwerumwe residential area in Chatsworth, TellZim News has learnt.
Sources who spoke to TellZim News said Gutu RDC made a resolution sometime in 2016 to sell the houses to tenants who had been renting them for a period of 10 years or more.
“Gutu RDC sold these houses to us but NRZ now claims that the houses belong to them. They have issued us with eviction orders and confiscation of property letters if we fail to pay what they claim to be rental arrears owed to them. We don’t know who the legitimate owner is anymore and we don’t know who to give the money,” a source said.
NRZ recently wrote to occupants of the houses advising them that they must pay up all the money that they owed lest they be evicted.
“Please be advised that you have an outstanding rent arrears amount which is due to this Admin (NRZ). Kindly arrange to remit the amount on or before 28 February, or else we will have no option but to evict you,” reads part of one of the letters.
Another source said the occupants were now confused as they were now caught between two rival bosses both of whom were claiming legitimate rights to the money that is owed.
“The houses were built many decades ago by what used to be the Rhodesian Railways and were inherited by NRZ. We don’t know how the council got involved to the level of taking ownership of the houses and selling them to tenants. Whatever it is, the deal was bad as evidenced by these quarrels,” said the source.
Others said the affected tenants organised a meeting with the two parties sometime back but NRZ representatives failed to show up.
Gutu RDC chief executive officer (CEO) Alexander Mutembwa said the matter needed to be resolved in courts, claiming that the local authority was the legitimate owner.
“The issue needs to be resolved before the courts. Those are our stands but NRZ claims to own them. We have been the owners ever since the amalgamation of 1994 when the Chatsworth RDC was dissolved and merged with Gutu. Occupants are not paying rentals to us and that is where the problem is,” Mutembwa said.
NRZ Chatsworth station manager, Elias Jerera confirmed that there was indeed a dispute with Gutu RDC but refused to reveal further details, referring TellZim News to the estates section of their Bulawayo railways office which was unreachable by the time of going to press.
The houses in question are old, with their ablution systems reportedly broken down. The walls are in urgent need of renovation and the roofs are leaky.local

Siyabonga Sayi

GWERU – The Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church’s women ministries together with a non-governmental organisation called Jointed Hands Welfare recently organised a four-day entrepreneurship workshop for deaf people and donated US$600 for income-generating projects.
The programme was held at Mtapa SDA and was attended by 24 participants from different church denominations.
The SDA Gweru women’s ministries director, Lindiwe Shumba said the programme was meant to give particularly deaf women an opportunity to exchange business ideas.
“It was an interactive programme to share ideas with members of the deaf community. We then made the donation as part of our joint efforts to empower them.
“Though we will assist only women with money, we opened the platform to men as well so that they too could be equipped with skills and knowledge on entrepreneurship,” said Shumba.
Jointed Hands Welfare economic strengthening officer, Privilege Munyanyi said the organisation was pleased by the partnership with SDA, which he said will go far in helping to meet the needs of the deaf community.
“We applaud the initiative by the church to empower friends whom we would like to describe as uniquely abled. That work should not stop and should lead to greater cooperation among us,” said Munyanyi.
David Nyoni, who is the patron of deaf people at Mtapa SDA, said similar work should be done in the future as most deaf people have sad tales to tell.
He said deaf people were more vulnerable to economic difficulties than fully able-bodied people.
“Their plight is even more saddening because they face stiff competition from other people doing similar business. If someone shouts ‘airtime’, those who hear would run and get the customer, and the deaf trader would lose out,” said Nyoni.   
Projects that were identified are selling fish, floor polish, lending schemes and several others that will be decided collectively.

…Mutirikwi sub-catchment council probes project

Upenyu Chaota

The Masvingo community is up in arms against Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development deputy minister, Davis Marapira who has built his own wall across a section of Mucheke River and is using the impounded water to irrigate crops at his own farm.
Stakeholders who spoke to TellZim News said the improvised dam wall must be demolished so as to free up the water for the greater good of the community.
Family and Friends of Rivers and Lakes in Zimbabwe (Faforaliz) national chairperson, Pianos Chadya said the wall built by Marapira was illegal and must therefore be demolished.
“As an organisation, we wonder what the responsible authorities are doing when they let such acts go unpunished. We deal with the protection, correction and conservation of the environment with special concern to water as a critical resource.
“Our hearts bleeds when we see Mucheke River chocked like that because of one person who is inconsiderate. There is a lot of impurities getting into the river and we want that water to be let free so that it can come and wash some of those things away.
“We are noticing a rapid growth of the problematic water hyacinth because water has not been flowing as it ought to do. We have marine life which is affected if the water is not flowing. If Marapira genuinely wants to irrigate his farm, he should make another plan rather than block the river,” said Chadya.
He said he was informed that the Environmental Management Agency (Ema) had disapproved the project but Marapira went on to use his political muscle to have his way.
Runde Catchment Council manager Stanley Nazombe, in emailed response to TellZim News questions, said the community had the right to launch complaints to their sub-catchment council which would then be obliged to investigate.
“The Water Act provides for the community to lodge complaints to their respective sub-catchment council. Where genuine concerns are brought forward, the council is obliged to investigate and advice the proponent on remedial actions required if any.
“Where a particular community requires to be engaged for their fears to be allayed regarding the construction of water storage facilities, Runde Catchment Council stand ready to assist,” said Nazombe.
The wall is built by farm bricks that Nazombe hinted could be unfit for the job as they are too susceptible to wear and tear.
“From a technical view, the material mentioned may not be the best, and efforts to ameliorate the situation may need to be employed,” Nazombe said.
Reports also say Marapira is not paying for the water he is exploiting from Mucheke River to the Mutirikwi Sub-catchment Council as required by Statutory Instrument (SI) 47/2000.
The SI demands that those who would have been given the go ahead to build their own dams in terms of the Water Act Chapter 20:24 be levied by the area’s sub-catchment council.
When contacted for comment, Mutirikwi Sub-catchment Council manager, Taruvinga Chivasa said they had probed the legality of Marapira’s project and had forwarded their findings to the Runde Catchment Council to deliberate.
“There are water procedures that are followed as provided for by the Water Act. We received the concerns about Marapira’s irrigation project and we did our investigation. Two councils will seat to deliberate on the issue and we as the Mutirikwi sub-catchment council have already convened and we have forwarded our resolutions to the Runde Catchment Council that will have the final say.
“I cannot tell you offhand that the Marapira irrigation project is legal or illegal until the Runde Catchment Council convenes,” said Chivasa.
Last week, TellZim News quoted City of Masvingo mayor Hubert Fidze expressing bewilderment that the deputy minister had deemed it fit to deprive the whole community of water that should be flawlessly flowing into Lake Mutirikwi.
In his response to questions from TellZim News last week, Marapira defended his actions saying it was in line with government’s water harvesting policies.
The understanding, however, is that water harvesting is about rainwater and runoff, and is not about blocking the flow of rivers to exploit their waters.local