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

MASVINGO – The District Development Fund (DDF) has only one grader which is supposed to service the road authority’s 3 810 km network to the highest possible standards, it has been learnt.
DDF Masvingo provincial coordinator, Marasa Gutukunuhwa revealed the dire state of affairs at the institution while responding to questions from TellZim News on why the damage wrought on many roads by La Nina – triggered floods remain unrepaired one year on.
He attributed the grim state of the roads and bridges in the seven districts of the province to lack of equipment to carry out adequate maintenance work.
“There is a massive workload but no proportionate resources to match the amount of work that needs to be done. We only have one grader which is supposed to work on the long network of secondary roads that falls under our ambit.
“It is this lack of capacity that obliges us to put some our roadworks to tender. Last year, we contracted a number of companies to work on some of the roads but we had many of those contractors pulling out before completing the work due to breakdowns of their equipment, leaving behind incomplete work,” said Gutukunuhwa.
He said the motor-grading of the Panganayi – Chinorumba Road in Zaka was aborted midway because the contractor who was working on it pulled out as his equipment had developed mechanical problems.
“That was also the case with work on Ruzambu Road in Mwenezi; the contractor pulled out before completing the work because his equipment broke down. The same also happened with our two contractors in Chivi,” he said.
Despite the challenges, the DDF, using its own grader, successfully rehabilitated many roads including the Mutero – Makwiza Road in Gutu and Zano – Veza Road in Zaka. A total of 42 km of roads in Bikita and 53 km in Chiredzi were motor graded.
Tyre-dragging was done on a total of 816 km of roads while towed grading was done on 2 180 km of roads across all the seven districts of the province. Motor-grading was done on 625 km of roads while other works included culvert maintenance, verge clearing, gravel patching, signage installation, re-gravelling and gully reclamation.
Other projects included the rehabilitation of the Save Drift Bridge in Chivi as well as the Fuwe Panganayi and Lower Shange bridges in Zaka.
The DDF water section carried out maintenance work on hundreds of boreholes and also rehabilitated Nyamakwe, Stanmore and Mushandike irrigation schemes.local

Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI – Indigenous small-scale sugarcane farmers say there is nothing that should stop them from putting more land under irrigation now that the giant Tokwe Mukosi Dam has been completed.
The farmers urged the government to avail more land for them so that they could increase their contribution to the economy.
Addressing farmers in Mkwasine recently, Zimbabwe Sugarcane Development Association (ZSDA) chairperson Edmore Veterai said government should seriously consider increasing the size of land for small holder farmers to at least 50 ha.
He said when the plots at Tokwe Mukosi are pegged, the new proposed hactarage should be implemented since most out-growers are doing very well even in such areas as Chipiwa where farmers have as little as 15 ha of land.
“The most viable sugarcane hectarage for us is 50. A serious farmer can produce the best results with 50 ha since most out-grower farmers have already shown some remarkable competency with their 15 ha plots.
“We are therefore calling upon the government to consider our request not to peg less than 50 ha for each farmer when they allocate the Tokwe Mukosi plots,” said Veterai.
Currently, there are more than 850 out-grower farmers in the Lowveld.local

CHIREDZI – With the knife hanging over the heads of all the four Chiredzi Members of Parliament (MPs) over links to the vanquished G40 faction, Chief Tshovani has come out fighting from the corner of the pinned legislators saying the people should decide the fate of their leaders.
A motion has been moved to expel Kalisto Gwanetsa, Darlington Chiwa, Robert Mukwena and Denford Masiya from Zanu PF but Chief Tshovani believes the people pushing the agenda are afraid of competition in the coming elections.
“It is clear that those who are pushing for the expulsion of the seating Chiredzi MPs are aspiring candidates themselves.
“The electorate should be given the power to decide their fate by way of ballot because it seems those who are fighting for their expulsion have no grassroots support,” said Chief Tshovani.
Recently, War Veterans district chairperson Killer Makuni handed over a list of allegations to Victor Matemadanda, Secretary General for Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, indicating that Chiredzi’s four MPs should be relieved of their duties.
Matemadanda later summoned the MPs to Harare to answer to the allegations.
Last month Zanu PF Masvingo provincial chairperson Ezra Chadzamira clashed with his deputy Ailes Baloyi who had presented a paper that Chiredzi District had resolved to expel the MPs, a move shot down by Chadzamira saying they should mend broken fences and not widen rifts.local

MASVINGO – Manjonjo Ushemasimba, who resides at number 15750 Runyararo West, was last week remanded in custody to Friday, January 19, by magistrate Takawira Mugabe on charges of vandalising billboards belonging to Pote Holdings.
It is the State’s case that on a date unknown to the prosecutor but during the period extending from March 23 to 25, 2017, Ushemasimba unlawfully dismantled and took away two Pote Drilling billboards,one at the 2 km peg along Mutare – Masvingo Roadand the other at Craft Centre along Masvingo-Beitbridge Road.
Ushemasimba used the billboards to make sliding gates at his own work place in the light industrial area in Mucheke.
A Mucheke man identified the billboards and reported the matter to the police leading to the arrest of the accused person.
The total value of the stolen property was given as US$240.00.
Edmond Mapope represented the State.local

CHIVI – A 42-year-old man who allegedly had been raping his two daughters since 2013, was recently arrested by police detectives following a tip off, TellZim News has learnt.
The accused who could not be named for ethical reasons resides at Chahobo village, Nyahombe resettlement area under Chief Shindi.
Sources told TellZim News that the alleged rapist father had repeatedly abused the girls, who are now aged 14 and 16 years for all that long and some members of the community had become aware of it but they remained quiet.
“The man is a well-known bully in the area. Some members of the community and even the accused’s wife have been fully aware that the man was in the habit of raping his two daughters but they did not report it as they feared victimisation,” said a source.
However, after gathering some courage, a community member alerted police detectives at Nyahombe police base.
The detectives raided the accused’s homestead leading to his eventual arrest. The man was due to appear at the Chivi Magistrate Court by the time of going to print.local

Siyabonga Sayi

GWERU – People at the magistrates’ court in Gweru were stunned when a man who was found guilty of domestic violence begged the court to give him community service instead of setting him free.
Tongai Zireni (43) of Mkoba 2 was found guilty of domestic violence as defined in Section 3[1] as read with section 4[1] of the Domestic Violence Act Chapter 5:16.
Zireni, who did not have legal representation, stunned the court when he begged magistrate Judith Taruvinga for community service when his 5 months prison sentence was conditionally suspended in full.
The magistrate however rejected the request and explained to him the implication of community service in light of the fact that he had a family to take care of.
The court heard that on January 2 this year Zireni communicated to her wife via a text message to the phone of his wife’s niece stating that he wanted to commit suicide because he was suspecting his wife of cheating.
His wife’s niece went to talk to him and the two returned home in Mkoba 2 were a misunderstanding between Zireni and his wife Kupurai Vhengere over the cheating allegations arose.
The court heard that Zireni then assaulted his wife with open hands and feasts on the head and stomach.
A report to the police was made leading to the arrest of Zireni.
Christopher Chitambira prosecuted.local