Clever Taperamoyo

MASVINGO – Hwiru Primary School in Mpandawana has won the National Aids Council (NAC) national quiz competition held at Prince Edward School in Harare.
The competitions saw nine provinces battling it out for the trophy and other prizes but it was Hwiru Primary which performed the best.
Chinorumba High School of Zaka district was also in attendance to represent Masvingo province and they came out fifth in the high schools category.
The Hwiru team put up a spirited performance throughout the competition and outclassed other primary schools such as Murambinda B and Kaguvi to win the trophy, a heavy duty printer and three desktop computers for the school.
Anesu Marwizi, Panashe Musada, Precious Murera and Lizza Tarupiwa won E-readers as individual prizes from NAC, the sponsor.
On Tuesday, the team went and presented their trophy to Masvingo Provincial Education Director (PED) Zedius Chitiga who said the school had set a good example for others.
“We would like to thank the coach of Hwiru Primary School for representing the province with distinction and coming back on top. That can only be achieved through hard work and we understand that the best coach produces the best results,” said Chitiga.
NAC provincial Aids coordinator Evos Makoni said the main objective of funding the competition was to spread awareness on HIV as well as helping to create an HIV-free environment.
Hwiru team coach Tariro Mazonde said the pupils learnt a lot on HIV and Aids from the quiz competition.
“I would like to thank my pupils for their dedication towards the quiz competition. We did better than our previous performance as we had managed to learn from our past mistakes,” Mazonde said.local

Siyabonga Sayi

GWERU – Three brothers on Wednesday last week appeared before Gweru magistrate Vimbai Makora facing charges of assaulting municipal police during a blitz against illegal vendors in the CBD.
Master Mbeure (25), Kennias Mbeure (21) and Kudakwashe Mbeure (23) of Ascot allegedly assaulted council cops who wanted to confiscate their goods.
The court heard that Master allegedly hit Brilliant Minyamana with a half brick once on head while Kennias assaulted Ratidzo Mpofu. Kudakwashe was accused of assaulting Charles Machangira and Martha Mudamburi.
The trio were remanded out of custody on US$40 bail and will appear in court on different dates.
Master will appear in court on November 13 while Kennias and Kudakwashe will come back to court November 16 and 17 respectively.
It is the State’s case that on October 23, municipal police officers were patrolling the streets to get rid of vendors operating at undesignated sites in the city.
Master is said to have resisted attempts to confiscate his wares before hitting Minyamana with a half brick once on the head.
Kennias allegedly assaulted Mpofu while Kudakwashe hit Machangira and Mudamburi as they resisted arrest.local

CHIREDZI – Two Chiredzi Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers have appeared before Chiredzi magistrate Geraldine Mutsotso facing charges of corruption after allegedly taking US$302 in bribes from the driver of a Mercedes Benz sprinter.
The complainant is Samuel Moyo who resides in Dulibadzimu, Beitbridge.
The accused, who were represented by Norman Mugiya, argued that the complainant should also be charged for corruption as he has admitted to paying the alleged bribe.
According to the State papers, Tenson Chipembere and Cleopas Nhamburo, who both reside in the Chiredzi ZRP police camp, stopped the motor vehicle which was carrying various grocery items at Chisase business centre.
The incident happened on October 30, 2016 along the Ngundu – Chiredzi Road.
They requested the driver, Doge Patsikwa, to produce declaration papers but were not satisfied, leading them to demand that the vehicle be driven by a police officer to Chiredzi Police Station for further ‘investigations’.
The complainant revealed that he had previously been made to deposit money into EcoCash accounts of the accused persons who had consistently been impounding his vehicle to force him to pay bribes.
He went on to supply account numbers where he was previously made to deposit the money
The court also heard that a warrant for search and seizure was done and forwarded to Econet Wireless Zimbabwe for a printout of the transactions that totaled some US$302.
The two were remanded out of custody and will make another appearance on November 27 for continuation of trial.
Chiedza Muhwandawake appeared for the State.local

Prince Danda

MBERENGWA – Two brothers have appeared in court over an inheritance dispute which is happening three decades after the death of their father.
Innocent Mthethwa (47) and Rodger Mthethwa (58) from Mazvihwa, appeared before Zvishavane magistrate Shephard Munjanja to settle their dispute over the distribution of their father’s cattle.
Innocent claimed that his brother has been selling cattle for the past 30 years without involving him and he appealed for all the remaining cattle to be given to him.
Their father passed away in 1987 and all his properties was given to his two sons, who have separate mothers.
Magistrate Munjanja told Innocent to re-file his case categorising it as an estate case as it requires redistribution of property of a deceased person.
Mthethwa is expected to file an estate case against his brother next week and start a fresh court case.local

CHIREDZI – The Chiredzi Residents and Ratepayers Association (CHIRRA) together with the United Chiredzi Residents and Ratepayers Association (UCHIRRA) has expressed concern over what they called is an unfair rates regime.
The residents’ organisations say there should be a clear cut difference in rate charges for ordinary people and the business community since the latter are heavy users of council services particularly water.
CHIRRA chairperson Jonathan Muusha said there was gross inequality in the way council is charging residents for water as those who enjoy uninterrupted supplies are charged similarly as those who receive rationed supplies.
“It is very unfair for the resident who receives water for 30 minutes a day to be charged the same as those who enjoy uninterrupted services. You find that the business community and parastatals do not pay their rates and owe council large amounts of money.
“The ordinary folk is paying for the water which is being used by those people who do not pay for the service. This has to stop. The people who receive rationed water should pay less and those who receive the water more often should pay more,” said Muusha.
UCHIRRA secretary general Bernard Dhachi said council should make use of a performing budget which will cater for all Chiredzi residents.
“Council should work on a performing budget which will cater for all Chiredzi residents as others are unhappy with the below average service delivery levels,” said Dhachi.
Chiredzi Town Council has approved a US$4. 5 million budget for the year 2018.local

CHIREDZI – Chiredzi South Member of Parliament Rtd Brig Kallisto Gwanetsa said his efforts to facilitate the upgrading of Chilong Bridge across Runder River have been frustrated by the Ministry Transport and Infrastructural Development which seems unconcerned.
The long-mooted plans to upgrade the bridge remain empty talk with yet another rainy season approaching yet nothing has been done on the ground despite numerous pledges by politicians.
“I had a meeting with the Minister and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development about the issue in 2015 and I keep on reminding them on the issue but nothing has changed.
“I understand we are facing economic hardships in the country but it seems our area is being neglected. Bridges in other areas which were damaged after Chipinda Bridge were constructed but they all bear the same value to the communities.
 “We are now waiting for the rain and hopes for the construction of Chilonga Bridge this year are fading. Runde River will soon be flooded and this will cost more lives of villagers who cross using homemade canoes and even vehicles,” said Gwanetsa.
After the washing away of Chipinda Bridge by Cyclone Eline back in 2000, people who live across the river have had trouble getting to Chiredzi in the wet season.
Ever since, an average of five people have been swept by the river while trying to cross Runde using the dilapidated and low-lying Chilonga Bridge or makeshift boats.
People who live to the south of the river have to travel to Chiredzi town to access banks, the District Administrator (DA)’s offices, Chiredzi General Hospital, district education offices and the Registrar General’s office among other services.local

CHIREDZI – The Vahlengwe people in Sengwe communal lands have managed to put social media to good use through a WhatsApp group which allows ordinary community members to interact with their elected and traditional leaders.
The group was created by the Community Initiatives for Sustainable Development (Cifosud) trust which has been credited for facilitating rural development through social media.
Key to this idea is the linkage that has been created between community leaders and the people they represent.
The WhatsApp group allows members to express themselves feely and honestly without any fear.
Cifosud director Auspicious Ndlovu said WhatsApp was chosen because it is one of the most efficient and cheapest mode of communication which brings many people together in an instant.
“The purpose of the Cifosud WhatsApp group is to give ordinary people vital knowledge on their rights in order to influence decision-making processes while encouraging them to participate in development,” said Ndlovu.
Ndlovu said many underperforming elected officials have now seen the seriousness of the idea as the group exposes incompetence wherever it exists.
“Some leaders are resisting as they feel exposed but we are happy with Rtd Brig-Gen (Kallisto) Gwanetsa our MP because of his interaction with the community. He is taking a lot of developmental issues we raise in the group to parliament and some positive results are being seen,” Ndlovu said.
Ndlovu said their community has been marginalised for quite a long time but due to advocacy and lobbying through the group, something is now happening on the ground.
“The Makambe – Malipati highway was no longer a road as it was last graded 20 years ago. Due to our advocacy and lobbying, the road is being re-gravelled right now. Voices of people are being heard and that was one of our major objectives when we created this group in 2016,” said Ndlovu.local