GWERU – The tension between the army and police played out in the Gweru Magistrates’ Court on Monday when members of the respective forces thronged the gallery to support their own.
A CID operative, Gift Gorongonya, appeared in the court charged with attempted murder for shooting an army corporal, Zico Shumba, on Saturday last week.
Emotions were high, with the police officers keen to show that they were united against the undermining of their authority after Operation Restore Legacy reduced their respectability in the eyes of the public.
On Sunday last week, it was reported that after the shooting incident, soldiers stormed and surrounded Gweru Police Station, forcing its temporary closure.
The State’s case, as presented by Hellen Khosa, is that on February 10, Shumba was on his way to HQ 5 Brigade Kwekwe when he saw a man being assaulted by Gorongonya.
The driver stopped and Shumba disembarked and went to establish what was happening but Gorongonya’s accomplice threatened him with a gun.
Shumba disarmed the accomplice, took the magazine and ran towards the army bus in which he was travelling.
This prompted Gorongonya to draw his fire arm and shoot at the army corporal who fell to the ground although the shot missed him.
The accused followed Shumba and shot him once on the lower limb.
Gorongonya was granted $50 bail and asked to reappear in court on February 26.local

Rutendo Chitore

GWERU – Six Zvishavane gold panners were on February 7 sentenced to a combined 106 years in prison after being convicted of murder by Bulawayo High Court Judge, Nokhutula Moyo.
The six are Andrew Sibanda, Tawanda Shumba, Pardon Ndlovu, Noel Zhou, Innocent Malunga and Reason Ndlovu.
Of the combined sentence, each will get between 16 to 18 years imprisonment.
It was the State’s case that sometime in 2017, Shumba was assaulted by some residents after a failed robbery in Masvingo.
His friends heard about the assault and they went on a rampage assaulting anyone that they met as a way of retaliation.
The indiscriminate assaults resulted in one resident Jabulani Aaron seeking refuge at the now deceased Edmore Mapota house.
Sibanda, Shumba, Ndlovu, Zhou, Malunga and Reason followed Aaron and stabbed him on the back three times. When Mapota started assisting the stabbed man, he was fatally struck with a log on the head resulting to his instant death.
The court heard that Mapota died on sport and the culprits ran away.
The gang was later apprehended by the police.local

Precila Takabvirakare

MPANDAWANA – A 43-year-old man was recently convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife who had denied him sex.
Mudzingwa Tavarwisa of Mutoto village under Chief Serima Gutu was on separation from his wife Lisa Zvarevashe when the domestic violence case occurred.
Magistrate Edwin Marecha suspended six months of his sentence as it was his first time of committing a criminal offense.
It was the State’s case, as presented by Samuel Magobeya, that on the day in question, Zvarevashe visited Tavarwisa at his homestead. The following day at around 18:00 hrs, Tavariswa demanded that they have sex but she refused, saying she was on her menstrual period.
An angry Tavarwisa then picked up a hoe and struck Zvarevashe once on her right forefinger and went on to beat her all over the body using the hoe handle.
Zvarevashe was severely injured and was taken to Serima Mission Clinic but was later transferred to Muvonde Hospital in Drieforntein where she got admitted for close to a month.
Medical examinations were done and showed that she was badly injured.local

Brighton Chiseva

RENCO MINE – Siyai Neshanje, who has been Masvingo district’s ward 35 MDC-T councilor since its creation in 2008 to date, will leave the seat to Clever Chenjerai who was selected as the party’s new candidate at a candidate selection meeting held at Renco Mine Stadium.
Chenjerai was nominated after a unanimous agreement between him and Paul Malunga following a stalemate between Neshanje, Bensen Shuro, Elson Mutonhori and Rogers Banda.
When contacted for comment, Neshanje confirmed the development and said he is putting his weight behind Chenjerai and assured a clear win in the coming elections.
“The meeting resolved to put Chenjerai as this year’s candidate and I will support him and make sure that he retains the ward for the party,” said Neshanje.
Toperesu Mafirakureva was also selected MDC-T’s ward 23 candidate after battling for the post with other two members, Tasiya and Musingarimi.
The trio were nominated after a stalemate between former councilor Charles Mzembi popularly known as Mamhepo, Costa Mamvura, Edgar Pomerai (a teacher at Garai Pirimary School) and Jenny Zishamba.
Both meetings were officiated by Elson Mutonhori who is Masvingo district secretary and Benson Shuro who is a provincial representative.local

CHIREDZI – A burst along the main water supply trunk in Hippo Valley has seen Magwaza location going for over two months without water with authorities showing neither will nor capacity to solve the problem.
Magwaza location is connected to the water supply system by very old infrastructure that is in urgent need of repair.
Recently, three women from the area marched to Chiredzi Town Council to protest what they said was the continued neglect of their residential area.
One of the women, Veronica Mangoma said they registered their complaints with the town bosses and were falsely promised that the problem was going to be solved urgently.
 “We teamed up as women and went to council to file the complaint. We were told that they were going to address the issue without delay but they sent some guys who seemed clueless on where to start,” said Mangoma.
Another woman who took part in the protest was Atalia Murebwa who said it had become the woman and child’s tiresome daily routine to go around looking for water elsewhere.
“It’s now close to three months since we last got water from our taps. The council has failed but they are not gracious enough to say it so they would keep on giving empty promises,” said Murebwa
The women also accused council of sending students on attachment to do work that should be done by fully qualified professionals.
They criticised the United Chiredzi Residents and Ratepayers Association (UCHIRRA) and Chiredzi Residents and Ratepayers Association CHIRRA for failing to ensure that town bosses are held accountable in that regard.
When contacted for comment, Chiredzi Town Council secretary, Charles Muchatukwa said the engineering department was working to repair the line.
“We encountered a problem in Hippo Valley were a trunk line burst. The engineering department is working on the problem and soon, it will be done. Areas that had been receiving water will get it soon and we will upgrade the system so that every household in Magwaza can have water,” said Muchatukwa.local

MWENEZI – Masvingo provincial magistrate Langton Ndokera has bemoaned the increase in cases of women abuse in the district which he described as one of the least safe for females.
Speaking during a court session as part of his visit to Mwenezi on circuit, Ndokera said the high number of violence against women was worrying.
“For the few weeks I have been here, I have realised that this is one of the worst districts in terms of women abuse. Men seem to take women as rags that they can use and later on dump but that cannot be tolerated,” said Ndokera.
Last week, 41-year-old Prisca Ndoro of Zvirikure village under Chief Neshuro was left nursing a fractured hand after her husband Tafara Nyaku, who was drunk, allegedly assaulted her with open hands, fists and a log.
After the attack, Ndoro was rushed to Neshuro District Hospital where she received treatment.
Joseph Maweni, a lawyer, said some serious sensitisation work was needed to fight domestic violence which he said seemed to be driven largely by patriarchal attitudes in Mwenezi.
“We are dealing with a deeply patriarchal society so you find that a man may begin to ill-treat some of his wives if he fails to adequately provide for them. The idea would be to force them out and give himself some sort of relief from burdensome economic responsibility.
“There is need for concerted sensitisation programmes by civil society and government. There are several forms of abuses which are being perpetrated on a daily basis but a great deal of those cases go unreported due to lack of knowledge,” said Maweni.local

GWERU – Josiah Tungamirai Air Force Base (formerly Thornhill Air Force Base) last week launched a fundraising campaign to raise $230 000 for the refurbishment of Thornhill Secondary School.
Speaking to journalists during a press briefing held at the Air Base, Base Commander Air Commodore Elisha Masakadza said their major goal is to provide a conducive learning environment for the pupils.
“This project is meant to support the government’s initiative of providing quality education. We simply converted the recently moved Regimental School blocks into classrooms,” said Air Commodore Masakadza.
Air Commodore Masakadza said the project would go through four phases until completion with each phase having its own budget.
“Since we moved into buildings that have been lying idle for a while and used for different purposes, a lot of renovations needs to be done.  The first phase would be to have a laboratory, tiles, ceiling, computers and office furniture in place which would cost $70 000.
“The second phase will focus on landscaping and sporting fields to the cost of $50 000 with third and fourth phase focusing on classroom blocks material and precast-wall each costing $70 000 and $40 000 respectively,” he added.
Thornhill Secondary School, which currently has 172 pupils, was opened in January 2016.
As part of the fundraising efforts, a golf tournament scheduled for March 24 has been organized to try and lure more donations from the corporate world and other well-wishers.local