Clever Taperamoyo

CHIVI – Kenias Kwangwari (36) of Tarisai Village under Chief Nyajena in Chivi last Thursday appeared before magistrate Purity Gumbo and Prosecutor Edmond Mapope who sent him to remand for allegedly murdering his wife.
The court heard that in July this year, Kwangwari went to a two roomed house where his wife Naume Maziofa (now deceased) was doing her domestic chores.
While in the bedroom, a misunderstanding arose between the deceased and Kwangwari and the suspect allegedly took a traditional ram and struck his wife on her head several times.
The court also heard that Kwangwari went outside the bedroom and took an axe which was in the fowl run some meters away and went back to the room where his was lying on the floor.
He allegedly further struck the now deceased with the axe while holding her head and her back until she was dead.
He tried to hide evidence by hiding the stained wooden traditional ram and the axe back in the fowl run.
Kwangwari was seen by Yolanda and Sandra Hove who are his neighbours to and they later on reported the case to the police leading to the arrest of the suspected murderer.
Stained wooden traditional ram and the axe were recovered at his homestead, the court heard that Kwangwari was found in possession of the axe handle.
He was sent to remand and, by the time of writing, was yet to appear in court again for further trial.local

Cephas Shava

MWENEZI – A 36-year-old road user who was angered by the endless roadblocks and labelled police officers thieves before disappearing with a pair of handcuffs was last week convicted on the disorderly conduct charge but was found not guilty of escaping lawful custody.
Magistrate Honest Musiiwa sentenced Farirepi Nhongoviro of Mutoredzanwa village under Chief Nemauzhe in Chivi, to 15 days in prison or alternatively to pay a US$50 fine.
Nhongoviro had however pleaded not guilty to both charges during trial.
In acquitting Nhongoviro on the charge of escaping from lawful custody, Musiiwa pointed out that since Nhongoviro was found a few metres on his way to Mwenezi police station, he had not intended to escape but to hand himself in.
This was after the police had arrested, handcuffed and kept him there as a way of punishing him for his outspokenness.
The incident happened on May 13 at the 166 km peg along Masvingo – Beitbridge highway when Nhongoviro asked many questions to police officers who had stopped the car in which he was travelling.
On the charge of disorderly conduct, the magistrate said there was overwhelming evidence that Nhongoviro committed the offence.
Giving evidence in court earlier on, Brian Siyabonga, one of the police officer who was at the roadblock on the day in question, said Nhongoviro had scolded him and called the police officers perpetual thieves.
He alleged that Nhongoviro had wanted to cause a scene by threatening to throw himself in front of moving vehicles.
It was heard that Nhovoringo engaged in riotous conduct, running around the roadblock shouting at police officers and disturbing the free movement of vehicles.
After being arrested, the handcuffed Nhongoviro ran away and disappeared into the darkness but was later found on his way to Mwenezi police station where he was arrested again.
Willard Chasi prosecuted.local

Brighton Chiseva

ZAKA – The matter involving two teachers from Musiso High School who stand accused of dating a pupil has taken a new twist with latest information at hand indicating that one of the teachers was framed.
The investigation team found that one of teachers at the centre of the controversy was framed by pupils who wanted to fix him.
A report compiled by the disciplinary committee looked into the case and heard that the pupil (name supplied) who was being investigated for the alleged affair with the two teachers (names also supplied) connived with her six friends to cook up a case against one of the teachers while exonerating the alleged real offender.
TellZim News is also in possession of letters written by the six friends to school head Emmaculate Tinago confessing that they had conspired to nail the second teacher.
“On Sunday when I entered the (name withheld)’s room, I heard (name withheld) and (name withheld) planning that (the pupil at the centre of the controversy) was supposed to lie and say that Mr (name withheld) had asked her out. They were laughing as if they were joking until I heard that (name withheld) had accused Mr (name withheld) of asking her out,” reads part of the letter by one of the girls.
The girl at the centre of the alleged affair also wrote to the head admitting that she had connived with her friends to fix the teacher, moments after being caught out of bounds.
“…. (name withheld) akabva ati tinofanira kutsvaka munhu watinotsikirira paunoenda kudisciplinary committee, … (name withheld) akabava auya nepfungwa yekuti ngatisungirirei Va (name withheld) nekuti vane manyawi ende hapana anovafarira pano. Vatishungurudza chero nababa vangu havaonani kuma hostel vanosvika vachida kutonga tonga. Vanhu vakabva vati iyoyo inoita ndiko kuti vadzikame vane dzungu,” reads part of the girl’s confession.
The disciplinary committee, which submitted its findings to the investigating committee which comprised Tinago, senior lady Evelyne Gaviro and two teachers Flora Madzvamuse and Pelagia Chikati, was made up of four senior teachers, senior master, senior lady and the school’s acting deputy head.
The girls’ letters of confession, accompanied by the disciplinary committee’s own findings, have been sent to the provincial education offices for further investigations.
The investigating team recommended that disciplinary action be taken against the first teacher after concluding that the second teacher had no case to answer.
When contacted for comment on the new developments, Masvingo Provincial Education Director (PED) Zedias Chitiga said the matter was still under investigation.
“The investigations are still on and once a final verdict is given, proper procedures will be followed and you will definitely see the results,” said Chitiga.
The controversy began when the pupil was spent many hours in the teacher’s office during study time and was found walking to the hostels long after other pupils had settled in their places of residence.
She later stunned the disciplinary committee after claiming that the second teacher, and not the first one as was widely suspected, had proposed love to her and asked her to disrobe.local

Lawrence Mandava

BIKITA – Ward 12 Zanu PF political commissar Wellington Mutisi recently donated 10 bags of cement and 300 A5 exercise books to Makotore Primary School in Bikita.
This was a fulfillment of the pledge he made on Independence Day after a pupil in the school’s gymnastics team impressed him with a thrilling performance.
Mutisi then made representations to school head Porina Mhembere that he will see to it that the school receives some help.
“I have been committed to other business but I have finally managed to come to fulfill my pledge which I did after your pupil performed well on Independence Day,” said Mutisi.
Speaking at the event, Mhembere said the school was humbled by the gesture which she said was going to cover gaps in the school’s development needs.
“We thank Mr. Mutisi and his family for the love he has shown to us as a school and for remembering these pupils with exercise books. It’s a gap covered for us as a school and it is our desire that God continues to enlarge his territory.
Mutisi’s family members, Zanu PF Masvingo youth chairperson Nobert Ndaarombe and some ward councillors from Bikita Rural District Council were present during the donation.local

Cephas Shava

MWENEZI – Angered by inexplicable deaths and miscarriages in his family, a 50-year-old man quarrelled with his neighbour and called her a witch, demanding that she immediately stop her habit of bringing misfortune into his home, the Mwenezi Magistrates Court heard last week.
Khosa Musengi of Mharadze village under Chief Maranda was convicted on his own plea of guilty for contravening section 99 (1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
Magistrate Honest Musiiwa strongly cautioned Musengi against labelling anyone a witch without evidence from registered healers and gave him a wholly suspended eighty months prison sentence.
Asked by Musiiwa why he accused his neighbour of being a witch, Musengi confidently said his neighbour had haunted him with misfortunes for too long.
“It’s now close to 13 years being haunted by the witchcraft of my neighbour. She once came to my home pretending that she wanted to help my wife during delivery and I didn’t know that she wanted to take away a part of the newly born baby’s body for use in her acts.
“I consulted healers and they pointed out that she was the trouble maker. She caused the death of my children and now I only have one child left. I confronted her because right now, I am being affected by her spell,” Musengi told the court.
The State case, as presented by Willard Chasi, was that sometime in June this year, Musengi went to Esnathi Mandiweni’s homestead and started accusing accusing her of being a witch who had caused the death of his children and miscarriages of his wife.
Musengi threatened Mandiweni with death should the deaths and miscarriages in his own family continue. A police report was made leading to the arrest of Musengi.local

MASVINGO – Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, George Charamba last week dealt a devastating blow to hopes for the licensing of non-profit community radio stations, saying existing radio stations were serving the community too.
Charamba made the remarks in the presence of Minister Chris Mushohwe and other dignitaries at the official launch of Hevoi FM in Masvingo last Thursday.
Sounding as hawkish as ever, Charamba was unapologetic in his approach, dismissing the pro-community radio lobby as misplaced.
“Word rekuti community radio presupposes kuti kune imwe radio isingasevhi community. Ndeipi iyoyo? Inosevha ani? ….Kana isingasevhi community iri kutaura kunani? National haisi community here, commercial haisi community here mutawindi? …. Ndangoti nditi gagagagaga vamwe vachagumbuka vamwe vachasekerera zvisinei ndihwo upenyu hwacho, ndihwo ukama hwacho. Hatingogari tichingofara asi zvandakaudzwa naminister ndezvekuti we must make policies that make sense on the ground,” said Charamba.
He argued that the community radio idea was a foreign concept that the people wanted to blindly copy and paste onto the local arena without evaluating its significance to local needs.
“After all, no idea is compatible with all conditions; it depends on how you tether it within a specific social milieu,” he said.
In response, the Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio Stations (Zacras), the biggest community radio lobby in the country, issued a statement condemning Charamba for opposing democratic principles on open airwaves.
“It is the normal behavior of those who hold power when they feel challenged and we expect that. It is dangerous and irresponsible for Charamba, a public official, to attempt to fool the public by pretending to be confused by the difference between community and commercial radio,” reads part of the statement.
In the recent past, government licensed a number of commercial radios belonging to individuals with strong connections to the ruling Zanu PF party but has steadfastly refused to do the same for non-commercial ones despite its own survey findings known as the IMPI report pointing to the need for them.
Hevoi FM, and two more commercial stations, belongs to the AB Communications stable which is owned Postal and Courier Services minister Supa Mandiwanzira.local