…fight for ceremonial custody of Great Zimbabwe monuments

Moses Ziyambi

MASVINGO – There is no harmony between acting Chief Mugabe and neighbouring Headman Nemanwa over chieftainship in an area which carries great historical significance as a host to the Great Zimbabwe monuments, a national heritage site from where the country derives its name.
The disagreements stem from a host of issues including boundaries, rights to preside over cultural rites as well as each other’s legitimacy.
Acting Chief Mugabe, born Matubede Mudavanhu, whose area currently covers the monuments, accuses Nemanwa of encroaching into land that traditionally belonged to his lineage before the onset of colonial rule.
Family spokesperson, Henry Makusha told TellZim News that headman Nemanwa’s area consisted of less than 10 villages but was working with some powerful individuals to gain promotion at all costs.
“They are irregularly creating new villages and parceling out land to cronies in areas like Sikato and Longdale that were previously White-owned farms so as to bolster their numbers and reach the threshold needed for an area to be recognised as a chieftaincy. Nemanwa is a headman but he desperately wants to be chief at our expense,” Makusha said.
Many pre-colonial records, including the writings of German explorer Carl Mauch, say the area covering Great Zimbabwe belonged to the Mugabe people, of the moyo totem, until after the onset of colonial rule when the reigning chief, Chipfunhu Mugabe Mushenjere was forcibly removed and executed for asserting his rights in around 1892.
There are however divergent accounts and oral traditions that claim the area was ruled by the Nemanwa people, of shumba totem, but they were forced out and relegated for resisting colonial systems, with the Mugabes being elevated in their stead.
“At all functions, the Nemanwa people demand the same courtesies that are reserved for the Mugabe name yet Nemanwa is merely a headman under Chief Charumbira. He already recognises himself as chief but the land he claims to be his belongs to our forefathers and everything is there in black and white. The government does not recognise his claims and that is why he doesn’t have the perks that are given to real chiefs,” said Makusha.
There was a near skirmish during a traditional dance festival held at Great Zimbabwe monuments late last month when, during the cultural kuisa maoko courtesy ritual, Headman Nemanwa’s clansmen went and grabbed the microphone so that they too could accord their own name the same reverence as given to the Mugabes.
The brawl only ended when Provincial Affairs minister Shuvai Mahofa intervened and asserted that the event was taking place in Chief Mugabe’s land therefore Nemanwa had no right to demand equal courtesy.
The disagreement between the traditional leaders has also come at a huge expense for the environment with people from Nemanwa allegedly ignoring Chief Mugabe’s regulations against cutting down trees for firewood along Lake Mutirikwi.
Headman Nemanwa, Paul Mavhima however accused the Mugabes of a poor grasp of history saying the Nemanwas had lost their chieftainship during colonial rule and were working to restore it.
“They don’t want to face the truth because they know that when our chieftaincy is restored, as we are confident that it will happen soon, it will come at a huge expense to them. Many villages that we lost will come back and the genuine boundaries will be restored.
“There is no question about Great Zimbabwe because that’s our land. The Mugabes are late comers and they are only there because our ancestors welcomed them, gave them and other chiefs like Shumba land to settle. If they say Great Zimbabwe is theirs, then why was the Zimbabwe Bird which was recently returned from Germany came through Nemanwa and not Chief Mugabe?
“Chokwandi ndechekuti Nemanwa akazotorerwa nyembe yake nemaBhunu ndobva idzikiswa kuitwa headman saka hazvingarambi zvakadaro. Chiefs Shumba, Murinye and Chikwanda are old enough to know better and they can teach the Mugabes a true account of history,” said Mavhima, who said he had engaged government to have the Nemanwa chieftaincy restored to pre-colonial boundaries.
He dismissed claims that his people were destroying trees along Lake Mutirikwi saying it was the Mugabes who were encouraging their people to build villages along the shore and practicing stream bank cultivation.
“There are many homes being built at Zero Farm and those are not our people but are from Chief Mugabe. They are the people who are causing deforestation and siltation yet they want to shift the blame,” said Mavhima who also claimed his area was made up of up to 40 villages, not the less than 10 as alleged by Makusha.local

MASVINGO – There is absolutely no joy for companies that cut corners, evade the rules and try to go it alone in the construction industry because specifications governing implementation of big projects can only be met by working together, the Zimbabwe Building Contractors Association (ZBCA) has said.
This was heard during a ZBCA stakeholders breakfast meeting held in Masvingo last Friday where it was heard that some contractors were dodging their statutory obligations like registering with the relevant authorities and/or failing to pay their dues to the regulatory bodies.
ZBCA president Engineer Ransom Nherera lamented failure by the construction industry to work together and confront the challenges of the sector as a united front.
“We are failing to regulate our own playing field yet we want a stake in such big and important projects like the dualisation of the Harare – Beitbridge road. Let’s do things the proper way lest we remain marginalised as sub-contractors while foreigners continue to take the main contracts. The next thing which will be said is that the indigenous contractors never do their work properly and they do not finish projects,” Eng Nherera said.
The main contract to dualise the road was won by an Austrian consortium Geiger International due to perceived incapacity of the local civil engineering sector.
Eng Nherera said much of the work in the construction industry was being done by unregistered contractors taking advantage of the prevailing economic conditions to undercut formal contractors.
“Masvingo is growing as evidenced by the many new suburbs emerging and we have so many unregulated players doing a great deal of the work and when the regulated contractors go there, they don’t find the work.
“We are talking about unfair competition here and it is bad because when the unregulated people fail to do the job properly, there is no easy recourse and you end up taking each other to the courts,” said Eng Nherera.
National Employment Council for the Construction Industry (NECCIZ) representative Charity Sithole, who stood in for general secretary Taruvinga Dzokamushure, urged players to register their businesses.
“Those who want to do construction work on the road or anywhere else please register with us in accordance with the statutory requirements. Registration is a qualifying requirement for you to be able to go to the tender board,” said Sithole.
Construction sector trade union, ZCATWU general secretary Nicholas Mazarura said the industry was taking a battering due to the proliferation of informal players.
“Employers and employees let’s all unite and safeguard the interests of our industry. The informal sector is getting work at our expense by charging hand to mouth rates because we are not united. Let’s work together, register with NECCIZ and work to improve productivity,” said Mazarura.
The event was attended by many stakeholders including ZBCA Masvingo region leader Otinniere Tavirai, Standards Authority of Zimbabwe (SAZ) technical services director Cyril Siringwani, Construction Industry Pension Fund (CIPF) CEO Elisha Ngunga, engineers from the rural district councils as well as insurance sector representatives.local

MBERENGWA – A 36-year-old Mberengwa man who raped his four-year-old daughter in front of his two elder sons was last week sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The accused (named withheld to protect the minor), from Hlupheko village under Chief Mataruse, appeared before regional magistrate Morgan Nemadire on the charge of raping his own daughter.
The court heard that the matter came into the open when the child yelled while urinating and she told her mother what had happened.
The father had ordered his two other children aged 12 and 8 to stand still and watch while he raped their sister.
After raping the child, he threatened to stab the other children with a machete if they dare report the matter to their mother or anyone else.
The mother had gone to fetch water from a nearby borehole about a kilometre away, and on her return, she did not notice anything amiss.
The mother confirmed the matter from the duo and reported the matter to the police on the following day leading to the arrest of her husband.local

Morgan Tsvangirai

Lloyd Shunje in Mutare

MUTARE – What started as a good day ended in tragically for Mapako villagers under Chief Nyashanu in Buhera after a three-year-old child, Cosmas Mujiwa died last week after drowning in a canal at Murambinda Irrigation.
Manicaland acting police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Luxon Chananda confirmed the incident and urged parents and guardians to always look after their children.
“We received a report of a child who died on June 8 after drowning in a canal at Murambinda Irrigation, and we urge all parents or guardians to always keep an eye when walking with children in areas that are dangerous,” said Assitant Inspector Chananda.
The toddler was in the company of his mother Melody Muvande (28) who had another child on her back going to buy mealie meal at Murambinda Irrigation.
Cosmos was following at a distance of about 40 metres and upon arrival at a canal which was full of flowing water, he drowned while trying to cross the canal which was estimated to be 50 cm deep and 60 cm wide.
Upon realising that her child was missing Muvande started searching for her child with the assistance of other villagers before finding the body floating on top of water.
In a similar incident, an 80-years-old granny Zviitei Kosa of Manyika village under Chief Musikavanhu in Chipinge died after drowning in a well on June 9.
Kosa was in the company of her seven-year-old grandchild Vincent Sithole when she slipped and fell into the well near their homestead while trying to fetch water.
The boy rushed home and informed Kosa’s daughter-in-law Mavis Zunga who attended the scene and made a police report leading to the retrieval of Kosa’s body.local

Lloyd Shunje in Mutare

MUTARE – Manicaland police are investigating a robbery case in which two security guards were attacked and disarmed after five unknown assailants pounced on them at Murambinda General Hospital and escaped with a Toyota Land Cruiser, a 303 rifle, a Chubb safe and a cash box containing US$960. 68 on June 7.
Acting Manicaland provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Luxson Chananda confirmed the incident and said investigations were still in progress though some of the stolen goods were recovered.
“We are investigating a robbery case in which five unknown men pounced on two security guards Nyaradzo Ndodo (24) and Michael Mutero who were manning the main entrance. They drove away with a Toyota Land Cruiser, a 303 rifle Chubb safe and cash box which had cash,”
“Though some of the goods have been recovered, we are appealing to members of the public with information that may lead to the arrest of the suspects to notify their nearest police station,” said Assistant Inspector Chananda.
On June 7 around midnight, five the robbers approached Ndodo and Mutero who were on duty and hit Mutero who was armed with a 303 rifle once on the head and right hand and disarmed him before handcuffing him.
They also slapped Ndodo on the face and handcuffed her too before proceeding to search the guardroom from where they took car keys.
They proceeded to the admin block where they broke the door and stole a Chubb safe, a cash box containing over US$900 and drove away in a Toyota Land Cruiser which they stole from the car park.
The crime was discovered by a motorist who found the guards tied in the guardroom as he was leaving the premises.
Sister-in-charge Slindiwe Shamhu was then alerted and a police report was made.
The stolen vehicle and the rifle were recovered at Marenga Business Centre abandoned while the safe was recovered in Gutu destroyed.local

Cephas Shava

MWENEZI – Angered by a commercial sex worker who had forced him out of a room before fully satisfying his sexual appetite, a 28-year-old man went on the rampage and destroyed window panes at a lodge, the Mwenezi Court heard last week.
Jeffery Muzuva, who resides at Rutenga growth point, was convicted of malicious damage to property on his own plea of guilty by Magistrate Honest Musiiwa who sentenced him to 10 days behind bars or alternatively pay a US$60 fine.
Asked by Magistrate Musiiwa why he stoned the window panes of Linger Longer Lodge, Mazuva said he wanted the sex worker who was inside to bring back his money.
“We were having sex and the condom burst within two minutes during the act and the lady forced me out of the room insisting that it was enough….Out of anger, I stoned the window panes of the lodge demanding that she refunds me two dollars from the four dollars I had paid her,” Muzuva told the court.
It was the State’s case that on June 5, 2017, at around 03:00 hrs, Mazuva approached a 23-year-old sex worker identified as Villa Makoni at Rutenga where she plies her trade.
The two agreed that Mazuva pays US four dollars in exchange for the sex worker’s service at Linger Longer Lodges.
It was heard that the condom they were using burst in no time and an altercation between the two ensued leading to Makoni forcing her client out and locking herself in the room.
A dissatisfied Mazuva took stones and went on the rampage; breaking window panes and causing damages to the tune of US$50 as he demanded his money back.
Staff at the lodge made a police report leading to the arrest of Mazuva.
Willard Chasi prosecuted.local