Cephas Shava

MWENEZI – A 41-year-old man accused his own father of witchcraft and struck him all over his body resulting in his death a few days after being admitted in hospital, the Mwenezi Magistrates’ Court heard last week.
Thomas Maranele of Chirimani village under Chief Mawarire was not formally charged for contravening Section 47 of the Criminal Law Chapter 9:23, ‘murder’ when he appeared before magistrate Honest Musiiwa but he was remanded him in custody.
Arguing on behalf of the State, Willard Chasi told the court that on January 27, Maranele confronted his father, Wilson Maranele accusing him of practising witchcraft against his children.
He allegedly took a stool made of steel and struck his father once on the head. He then went to the granary where he took a wooden log and again struck his father three times on the right shoulder.
The victim fell unconscious and was rushed to Matibi Mission Hospital where he died a few days after admission. A police report was made leading to Maranele’s arrest.local

Local Government minister July Moyo

…Army, Police and Prisons top debtors list
…low density suburbs accrue over $36m
…debt collectors legal – Minister Moyo

Upenyu Chaota

MASVINGO – Various arms of government are responsible for the poor service delivery record in the city because they do not bother paying for the services that they get from council, it has been learnt.
City of Masvingo is owed in excess of US$65 million by various government departments, schools, businesses and residents; an amount huge enough to drastically reduce the service delivery backlog once paid in full.
According to council records, institutional debtors as on December 31, 2017, owed a total of US$22 805 064.
The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) leads the pack at a whopping US$11 838 487 while their Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) counterparts trail at US$4 165 157. The Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) owes US$2 433 596.
The mothballed Cold Storage Commission (CSC) has a US$1 333 263 debt to settle with the local authority.
Low density areas that enjoy largely uninterrupted services, have accrued US$36 131 973 while the majority of high density suburbs, that often get mediocre service delivery, owe US$7 301 843.
Local Government minister July Moyo told TellZim News that nearly every resident had a debt and called upon people to initiate engagements with their local authorities to make payment plans.
“The law is clear. If you accrue a debt, it’s your responsibility to approach the council to map a plan on how you can settle the debt.
“We encourage dialogue between the council and its residents before resorting to debt collectors which are legal by the way. If people fail to pay, councils have the right to approach the courts and attach property,” said Moyo. 
The Ministry of Education provincial offices at Wigley House owe the council US$72 673 while Victoria High School owe US$201 842, Vurombo Primary School US$11 120, Shakashe Primary School US$8 116, Helen McGhie Primary School US$7 462, Dikwindi Primary School US$5 263 and Victoria Primary School US$4 327.
Mayor Hubert Fidze said the city could not have optimum service delivery since people who are using council service like piped water were not paying.
“The city council can deliver to everyone’s expectations only if people pay up their rates. The situation we have at the moment is deplorable because most service consumers are not paying at all.
“We keep telling people to approach us and make payment plans but very few come forward. We want dialogue with our residents rather than engaging debt collectors,” said Fidze.
He said the army and police have their rates paid through treasury but nothing has been coming through for a very long time.local

CHIREDZI – Chiredzi East Member of Parliament (MP) Denford Masiya and his Chiredzi West counterpart, Darlington Chiwa, both of whom face allegations of accepting bribes from Tongaat Hullet Zimbabwe in exchange for protection, could be off the hook after the company dismissed the allegations as false.
This follows Tongaat Hullet managing director, Sydney Mutsambiwa’s statements to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture and Resettlement which visited the company last week.
Masiya and Chiwa were accused by their own Zanu PF party of accepting luxurious Toyota Land Cruiser V8 cars so that they could defend the sugar company against politically-motivated attempts to seize its properties.
The matter was tabled before the Justice Mayor Wadyajena-chaired committee with Mutsambiwa dismissing all allegations of wrong-doing against the two legislators.
 “We have never bought a vehicle for anyone. I’ve been around here since 2000 and I don’t recall any incident where a bribe was solicited or received from the company.
“We only work with local legislators on development issues and we don’t choose who to work with because we are apolitical,” said Mutsambiwa.
Wadyajena said they will make an investigation of the issue during a public hearing.
“We are going to hold a public hearing on the problems faced by the company after making deliberations in parliament. We will also investigate the issue of vehicles; it seems somebody knows something since the registration numbers of the vehicles were stated in public,” said Wadyajena.local

MWENEZI – Maphias Matare, a teacher at Chinyu Primary School, last week surprised many people in the public gallery of the Mwenezi Civil Court after he boldly offered to pay his ex-wife more in maintenance money than he earns per month.
Tsakani Mashimbwa, who accused his husband of failing to look after their daughter, dragged Matare to the court claiming a monthly maintenance of US$100.
Upon being asked by magistrate Honest Musiiwa what he could offer, Matare made commitments to pay US$50 although his current net income after all the deductions was only US$39.
After assuring the court that he will be able to pay the amount, magistrate Musiiwa ordered Matare to pay US$50 as per his request.local

Clever Taperamoyo

MASVINGO – The decision by Primary and Secondary Education minister, Paul Mavhima to order a rewrite of the 2017 Zimbabwe School Examination Council (Zimsec) ‘O’ level English Paper 2 has been reversed by High Court Judge, Justice Loice Matanda Moyo.
The judgement was welcomed by stakeholders in the education sectors, parents and pupils who felt children were being punished for the gross incompetence and corruption at Zimsec.
Progressive Teacher’s Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), president Dr Takavafira Zhou welcomed the ruling as good for the protection of children from ‘educational vandalism’.
“Once again, history has absolved PTUZ and other progressive forces in Zimbabwe. There was so much vitriolic attacks from government officials, yellow unions and some forces of darkness but history has absolved us. Rationality has emerged victorious over educational vandalism.
“Justice Matanda Moyo’s judgement has simply reiterated what we had proffered as an alternative to government callousness, vague and vapid machinations,” Dr Zhou thundered.
In an interview with TellZim News, Netsai Masunda, a concerned parent with a daughter who sat for her ‘O’ levels at Checheche High School in Chipinge, praised the judgement, saying she had agonised about having to find money to send her child back to school for the re-sit.
Matanda-Moyo’s judgement, which is highly critical of Zimsec, called for a total overhaul of the exams body.
She said the courts do not condone cheating but wanted to protect learners, thus the order that pupils be graded based on the marks they scored in the English Paper 1 only.local

Cephas Shava

MWENEZI – Freddy Mandebvu of Plot 36 Altornburg under Chief Chitanga reportedly impregnated his neighbour’s wife when her husband was out of the country and later instigated the man’s arrest upon his return, the Mwenezi Magistrates’ Court heard last week.
This came out during the trial of Godfrey Hlanga (34) and Joseph Hlanga (29) who both reside at Plot 17 Altornburg under Chief Chitanga on charges of unlawful entry into premises.
The two brothers, who pleaded not guilty, told the court that they were merely being framed by the complaint, Evelyn Madya who is Mandebvu’s wife. They argued that the couple framed them as a way of revenge because they reported Mandebvu to the chief’s court impregnating Joseph’s wife.
Giving her side of the story, Madya blamed Joseph for his wife’s infidelity saying he spent too much time away from her.
“You are the one to blame for it. You went to South Africa for three years and how did you expect your wife to get love. After all, you did not fend for her for that period.
“For survival, she ended up getting some piece jobs at my homestead. I was not aware that I was also sharing a husband with her

but the truth of the matter is that you are squarely to blame for all this,” Madya told the court.
It is the State’s case that on October 6, last year at around 21:00 hrs, while Madya was at a church service with her husband, Godfrey approached them and in view of congregants, started threatening and scolding him for impregnating Joseph’s wife.
The court heard that Godfrey was later restrained by fellow villagers and was forced to leave but he later teamed up with Joseph and went to the complaint’s homestead where they destroyed property including a TV set, speakers and cups valued at US$393.
They got away with US$300 cash which they found in the room. That same night, the two were spotted by the complainant leaving her homestead after committing the offence. A police report was made leading to the two’s arrest.
Magistrate Honest Musiiwa postponed the matter to a later date for continuation of trial. Willard Chasi prosecuted.local