Shumirai Zhou

GWERU – A Gweru man was last week dragged to court for failure to take good care and securing his dog after it viciously attacked his tenant.
Robert Munemo of Lundi Park was fined $200 by Gweru magistrate Judith Taruvinga after he pleaded guilty to the charges.
Standing on behalf of the State, Chipo Ncube told the court that Munemo’s maid visited Precious Kadema, his tenant at her cottage and the dog then followed her.
When Kadema opened the door for the maid, the dog immediately pounced on her and she was bitten on the arm.
The complainant revealed that there was no tight security at the house, making it easy for the dog to attack people. She also revealed that the previous day, the dog had bitten her younger sister on the leg and she was stitched several times.
Magistrate Taruvinga referred the matter to civil court after Kadema requested for $2400 as compensation for medical bills.local

Itai Muzondo in Gweru

GWERU – The Deposit Protection Corporation (DPC) says it is pleased with its service delivery record since its creation a few years ago.
Speaking to TellZim News after an awareness campaign in Gweru last week, DPC managing director John Chikura said the organisation had done a lot to build public confidence in the banking sector by protecting depositors’ credit.
“When talking of confidence, it is in different levels. As for our side, we are talking of depositors or bank account holders who now need not to worry about losing all their savings in case their bank collapsed. We have assured the protection of their hard earned cash by following up on closed banks to pay up whatever amount depositors may had in there.
“As DPC we give a maximum of $1000 instantly and if your balance was above that, more funds will be given as we follow up on the liquidation progress with your bank. The process is not one-sided because we also help banks recover money from those who try to take advantage and run away with borrowed loans,” Chikura said.
He said people were currently unwilling to deposit their money with banks owing to liquidity challenges in the country.
Chikura further said many people who have been affected by bank closures were not aware of services that the organisation offers.
“Many people have been affected by the closure of banks and many are not aware they can follow up on their money. We are trying to reach different communities and plans are there to help everyone,” he said.
Deposit protection is a scheme established by government to protect depositors against the loss of their insured deposits placed with member institutions licenced to operate banking or finance business.
DPC gets its funding from quarterly premium levies collected from member institutions and by opening an account with a registered financial institution, a depositor’s funds become automatically protected.
Banks that have collapsed of late are Kingdom (AfrAsia), Interfin, Allied, Trust and Royal.local

MASVINGO – Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFM) pastor Godfrey Kudita (45) of Matrik Park Harare, this week appeared before Masvingo magistrate Takawira Mugabe facing charges of assaulting Clarkson Farai, a fuel attendant.
The State, led by Edmond Mapope, claimed that one evening in August this year, Kudita arrived at Petromo Exor Masvingo driving his BMW X5 with South African registration numbers for re-fueling.
Kudita asked for diesel worth US$40 and the complainant complied and served him.
The court further heard that after serving Kudita, the complaint went to another fuel pump behind Chicken Inn to attend to other customers.
On his return, the complainant found Kudita still at the same spot and asked him why he was still there.
The accused then asked Farai why he had given him fuel which was less than what he had paid for. A misunderstanding ensued and the accused used a swipe machine to assault the complainant.
The accused then went on to take the complainant’s two swipe machines worth $1600 and drove away with them.
The court heard that Kudita, who has been a pastor for more than seven years in Zimbabwe and abroad, later on sent Matthew Nyambiya to return the two swipe machines when he arrived in Chivhu.
A medical report was brought to court as evidence of the assault. The pastor was due for sentencing by the time of writing.local

MWENEZI – A 15-year-old minor who was fast asleep awoke to severe pain in the groin only to find that there was a man who was forcing his manhood into her private parts, the Mwenezi Magistrate Court heard last week.
Clemence Chauke (23) of Turf village 5 under Chief Chitanga was not formally charged of rape when he appeared before magistrate Honest Musiiwa but was remanded in custody for the alleged offence.
The court heard that on the night of August 29 this year, Chauke went to Turf Village 4 and entered into a room where the girl was fast asleep. He softly sneaked into the minor’s blankets and inserted his manhood into her private parts.
The minor was awakened by the pains caused by the intruding foreign organ and upon being seen, the alleged rapist immediately ran away but the complaint managed to positively identify him.
A police report was made leading to Chauke’s arrest. Angelinah Makonya appeared for the State.local

MWENEZI – A 21-year-old woman caught her hubby hugging his girlfriend, got so angry that she poured urine on him but he also got so upset that he assaulted her severely, the Mwenezi Magistrate Court recently heard.
Desire Shumba (28) of Munyamani village under Chief Maranda was convicted of domestic violence on his own plea of guilty.
Magistrate Honest Musiiwa sentenced him to 20 days behind bars or alternatively pay US$50 fine in addition to two months sentence that was conditionally suspended for five years.
Asked by the magistrate why he assaulted his wife, Shumba said he could not control his anger after his wife threw the stinking human liquid waste at him.
“Ndakamurova ndatsamwa nokudakokuti akandidira bucket rose ranga riri mumba rine weti yake. Ndizvo chete zvakanyanyakunditsamwisa,” Shumba told the court.
The State case, as argued by the prosecutor Angelinah Makonya, was that on August 29, 2017 at around 20:00 hrs, Shumba had a misunderstanding with his wife, Beauty Senga after she found him hugging his girlfriend.
The court heard that later on, Shumba went to sleep in the bedroom and found his wife playing music on her cell phone. He ordered her to stop playing the music but Senga did not comply and this resulted in an altercation between the couple.
Shumba assaulted Senga with fists all over her body several times and a police report was later made leading to his arrest.
A medical report was produced in court as exhibit.local

Nyasha Marumbi

MASVINGO – The local chapter of international charitable NGOs confederation, Oxfam is working to reduce extreme poverty among the most disadvantaged sections of society by helping livestock farmers to better manage risks.
At a disaster risk reduction dialogue held in Masvingo last week, Oxfam led discussions on how best farmers can prevent livestock loss in light of the many obstacles associated with the business.
Some outstanding risks faced by livestock farmers include droughts and such diseases as foot and mouth as well as anthrax.
Oxfam Zimbabwe spokesperson Innocent Katsande said government and partners in other sectors should put in place measures that will enable farmers to get back onto their feet in the event that they lose their livestock.
“Government and its partners should build on the available natural resources like water and implement programmes that allow affected livestock farmers to quickly bounce back after a disaster. This is a better way of building the resilience capacity of farmers,” said Katsande.
He said because livestock still forms the backbone of rural sources of wealthy, it was critical that farmers are capacitated to deal with any disaster as a way of fighting extreme poverty in the country side.
“Oxfam encourages government to ensure that reliable early warning systems are put in place for known disasters like floods, droughts. Responding to disasters costs way more than investing in disasters prevention,” he said.
Farmers are urged to engage in disease surveillance and adopt measures for identification of new infections and changes to existing ones.
Attendants called upon the government and its partners to provide impoverished communities with the tools, education and support they need to improve their welfare.local

…church refuses to stop playing drums

CHIREDZI – The hostilities between the Zion Christian Church and traditional leaders in Malipati are yet to be fully resolved after a meeting organised by the two sides last week failed to agree on the contentious issue of playing drums during circumcision months, TellZim news can reveal.
The meeting was held at Davata Community Hall with traditional leaders; Headmen Ngwenyeni and Headman Samu reportedly apologising to the church for the violence that was perpetrated against worshippers last month.
On its part, the church also made commitments to respect traditional values but sticking points remained on the issue of drums.
Chairperson of the Sengwe Pastors Fraternity, Reverend Steven Chauke said everybody was happy that some common ground had been found.
“We finally met with our traditional leaders and Chief Sengwe agreed that we can go on with our services but with respect to the cultural values of the land. We also agreed that the perpetrators of violence must be brought to book,” said Rev Chauke.
He added that another dialogue meeting will be set to deliberate on the playing of drums by churches when there are initiation ceremonies
“We later had a wonderful church service; drumming, praising and worshipping the Lord without any interference. We praise God for that,” said Rev Chauke
A few weeks ago, a Zion Christian Church Sunday service was abandoned prematurely after a mob of youths from Chengule circumcision school in Malipati under Headman Ngwenyeni left their camp 20 kilometers away to assault congregants with sjamboks.
They accused the worshippers of violating traditional practices through their ‘noisy’ singing and drumming; actions that are forbidden during the circumcision season.
When contacted for comment Headman Ngwenyeni also said they had made progress in calming the tensions but insisted that church drums must not be played during the circumcision months.
“Yes it’s true that we had a meeting with church leaders and agreed on some issues but we still say they should not play drums during the two months of the circumcision season. We also apologised to those who were beaten some weeks ago by boys from Chengule,” said Headman Ngwenyeni.