Siyabonga Sayi

GWERU – The public hearing on the Public Health Bill done by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care in Gweru was attended by less than 30 people.
Participants complained that details of the event were poorly communicated to the public.
Only two individuals were active, raising pertinent issues about the proposed piece of legislation with the rest of the attendees seemingly not aware about what the bill was all about.
Committee chairperson, Prince Dubeko Sibanda, however, said the bill was available for anybody to download from parliament’s website.
“You will realise that it is not possible for this committee to provide a hard copy of this bill in time ahead of their visits to all the areas.
“On the issue of attendance, we advertised all these meetings in the national papers and we also informed Members of Parliament to communicate the information to the people in their constituencies,” Sibanda said.  
Lizzie Zvenyika, from the National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe (NCDPZ) criticised authorities for not availing the bill in Braille and other formats that are friendly to people with disabilities.
“As people with disabilities, we are oftentimes left out of critical discussions and decision-making engagements. We hope this is the last time that we are left out because next time, we expect to see Sign language interpreters and other things consistent with our needs,” said Zvenyika.local

Josaya Hungwe

CHIREDZI – A disgruntled couple has written to Chiredzi resident magistrate Constance Mutandwa complaining about the rescission of a judgement made in their favour.
In the letter, dated March 02, 2018, David Ginya, on behalf of his spouse Synthia Pfaira, complaints that magistrate Geraldine Mutsoto blatantly erred when she reversed a default judgement made by another magistrate, Tafadzwa Mhlanga.
The default judgement, delivered on January 22, had authorised the messenger of court to help Pfaira recover her money from one David Saunyama who had failed to deliver on a deal to sell her a residential stand.
The default judgement had been made because Saunyama had failed to show up in court.
On March 01, however, Mutsoto granted Saunyama’s application for rescission of judgement and stay of execution on the grounds that there was no indisputable proof that Saunyama was served summons.
“I refer to the above matter and the bizarre ruling that was made by the trial magistrate on the 1st of March 2018. I am the spouse and financier therein, Synthia Pfaira, so kindly note my interest in the matter.
“I am advised that at law, advise (sic) I verily believe to be true and correct in all material respects, that before a court of law can grant default judgement it has to be satisfied that the defaulter was served in accordance with the magistrates’ court (Civil) rules of 1980 in casu, the judgement in default was granted by magistrate Tafadzwa Mhlanga after observing that applicant had been properly served.
 “In that vain, (sic) I argue that it is a piece of either breath taking naivety of naked corruption or both for trial magistrate Geraldine Mutsoto to find otherwise. The issue logically boils down to the question: was the final determination by Geraldine Mutsota a matter of law or a classic clash of penalties with Tafadzwa Mhlanga?” reads part of the letter.
In the letter, Ginya also calls upon the office of the resident magistrate to launch investigation into Mutsota’s decision.
It is understood that in 2016, Pfaira entered into an agreement with Saunyama for the purchase of a residential stand which was was valued at US$6 000 and she made an initial payment totalling US$2 000.
Pfaira later demanded her money back after Saunyama allegedly failed to meet his side of the bargain. Saunyama, however, failed to reimburse Pfaira’s money, leading to the civil suit.
TellZim News saw a copy of Mutsoto’s ruling for Case Number GL701/17 as well as summons reportedly served to Saunyama through his legal practitioners, Muvingi and Mugadza Legal Practitioners C/O Zimbodza and Associates.
“The applicant has indicated that the default judgement that was granted was granted in error. This regard being had to Order 7(5) (2) (b) of the magistrates court civil rules which require that service shall be delivered to a responsible person at the residence or place of business or employment of the person or whom service is to be effected or at his chosen address of service,” reads part of Mutsoto’s judgement.
The summons, that bear the clerk of court’s stamp, are said to have been served to Saunyama on November 5, 2017 for the matter which was supposed to be heard on December 12, 2017.
After Saunyama failed to appear in court, Mhlanga delivered the default judgement and gave authority to Pfaira to recover her money through the messenger of court who went on to attach Saunyama’s vehicle.
In 2016, the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) transferred 12 magistrates from the southern region due to what was widely perceived to be part of attempts to fight rampant corruption by magistrates and prosecutors.local

TellZim Reporter

A Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officer, Donald Manenji and his friend Shamiso Tavaruva last week Thursday stormed TellZim News offices and threatened to violently shut down the newspaper in protest against a story they were not happy with.
Manenji is a soldier working at the military ward of Masvingo Provincial Hospital while Tavaruva is a well-known personality, being daughter to Tanda Tavaruva, the formerly prosperous passenger businessman of Mhunga Bus Services.
Last week, TellZim News published a story detailing how the two were in trouble with the law for allegedly ganging up to savagely beat one Zivanai Chikwanda, accusing of ill-treating his ex-wife Ruth Maregwede.
The incident, which happened at Chesvingo business centre on February 21, was reportedly witnessed by many people and was reported at Chikato Police Station, CR 79/02.
Stung by the story, a fuming Manenji and Tavaruva stormed into the newsroom shouting obscenities and demanding to see the person who wrote the story.
They pulled down the company mission statement from the wall and threatened to smash it while threatening to shut down the newspaper ‘with immediate effect’.
They demanded a written apology and a full retraction of the story with Manenji threatening to phone army bosses to come and close the newspaper.
Much of their shenanigans were captured on video and audio as they caused a scene for many people to watch while insulting the editor, Passmore Kuzipa.
When conducted for comment, Headquarters 4 Infantry Brigade Public Relations Officer (PRO) Captain Francis Chanduru condemned the dragging of the army’s name into personal affairs.
“We don’t tolerate such behavior, that’s indiscipline and abuse of office. We are going to investigate the case and appropriate disciplinary action would be taken if there is a case. We don’t want individuals who tarnish the good name of the organisation. The army is disciplined and we have a phobia for violence,” said Captain Chanduru.
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (Zuj) vice president, Godfrey Mtimba also condemned the threats and promised to take the matter forward.
“As Zuj, we condemn in the strongest terms any threats or violence whether from soldiers or any other person who wants to harm freedom of the media and the safety of journalists. People must not abuse the name of the army for the purposes of impunity,” said Mtimba.local

CHIREDZI – Wesley Kauma, the town council’s engineer has come under pressure from residents who are demanding his removal from office for failing to account for seven mega litres being pumped daily from the water treatment plant at Hippo Valley.
The treatment plant is said to be producing between 10 and 11 mega litres of clean water daily but only three mega litres are being distributed to the town.
An investigation team led by Chiredzi Press Club found that the bulk of the treated water cannot be accounted for in a town of 28 205 residents who never receive a consistent water supply.
Sources who spoke to TellZim News on condition of anonymity said the ‘missing’ water was being secretly sold to some small scale sugarcane farmers who need it for irrigation.
In a full council meeting held recently, Kauma admitted that only three mega litres of water was being pumped daily to the whole of Tshovani and other areas.
The disclosure outraged town chairperson Francis Moyo so much that made it clear that Kauma was grossly incompetent and was not supposed to continue in his office.
Moyo, who was part of the investigation team that visited the water treatment plant, criticised the installation of public taps in the Zava area of Ward 5 saying such water will be difficult to bill and account for.
“We are not engineers but residents conducted their own probe and uncovered issues that need clarification from the engineering department. More so, a normal engineer, with his senses, cannot recommend the installation of garden taps to supply free water yet we are still saddled with a $1.3 million debt owed to Tongaat Hulett,” quipped Moyo.
Garden taps are the name given to public water points built along the few functional water supply lines especially in the water shortages-hit Zava area.
Council also owes Tongaat Hulett the US$1.3 million from long back when the sugar company used to supply the local authority with water.
In his defence, Kauma said he had not realised that much of the treated water was not going to residents as it was often the assistant engineer, Irveen Mateyaunga, who is often on the ground attending to such issues.local

BIKITA – Angry parents on Tuesday stormed Mandadzaka Primary School and took away their children in protest against the district education office’s failure to hold accountable a senior school staff member who left the school without atoning for her alleged acts of witchcraft.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 07, the school was still closed as parents had withdrawn their children.
Late last year, teachers at the school notified the district education office that they would leave the school en-masse if the female senior staff member was not transferred.
Through concerted pressure from parents and the teachers, the staff member subsequently left the school but teachers at the school say they do not know whether she has been transferred or has quit the job on her own accord.
They however accused the district office of protecting the teacher and letting her go without appearing before headman Mazvimba who had wanted her to confess her alleged paranormal activities that were now affecting fellow members of staff as well as pupils.
A parent who spoke to TellZim News said the school will remain closed for as long as the teacher is not brought back to ‘disinitiate’ the children she had dragged into dark underworld.
“Many children are behaving weirdly and we know she made them join her satanic cult. The affected children are also spreading the spell to other children. We also have many teachers who are complaining about many paranormal occurrences at the school,” said the parent.
Another source said parents and teachers wanted the senior staff member to be brought back and publicly acknowledge what she had done and remove her evil charms from the school.
“The house that she was occupying at the school cannot be given to somebody else because everybody is afraid; it’s like a haunted house. We blame education officials for shielding her from accounting for her involvement with the dark arts,” said the source.
Mandadzaka primary School head Alexander Masarira refused to comment and referred all questions to his superiors at Nyika growth point but they could not be reached by the time of going to print.
Provincial Education Director (PED) Zedius Chitiga was said to be busy in a meeting when TellZim News went to his office to look for a comment.local

MWENEZI – Zanu PF Mwenezi East Member of Parliament (MP) Joosbi Omar has imported five male Boer goats from South Africa for the purposes of cross breeding them with local breeds.
The goats have been penned behind the constituency development office at Rutenga growth point and will be released to mate local goats that will be picked from various wards of the district.
Omar told TellZim News that the imported breeds were meant to improve goat production in the district and fight extreme poverty.
“The goats are for the benefit of the people of Mwenezi in particular and the country at large. We are going to make sure that local female goats will be picked from various wards of the district so that they mate with the imported Boer goats to produce a new hybrid.
“Every ward within the district will be incorporated into this project. The idea is to come up with a distinct goat hybrid for the district. To maintain the Boer goat, breed we have already bought a total of 20 female Boer goats that will soon be brought into the country,” said Omar.
Ultimately, Omar said, the district should be able to export quality goat meat to the region and beyond.
“When a Boer goat mates with any other goat type, twins or triplets are usually produced. So we are expecting to have a mass production of goat meat for export to the Arab world where the market is readily available.
“The district has the potential to contribute more to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the country. With this project and many others in the pipeline, we are going to be the envy of many people,” Omar said.local