Maize thieves caught in Chivhu

Tinomutenda Midzi

MUTARE – A prison officer working at Mutare remand prison is allegedly causing extreme apprehension to women in the camp through mubobobo, it has been said.
A close source who spoke to TellZim News on condition that his name will note be published said the officer was recently caught putting some mysterious substances in the women’s restrooms at the remand prison.
This was reportedly after many women in the camp had raised complaints that they had had dream-like unwanted intimate encounters with the man during the night.
 “He was caught putting some substances in our bathroom and a lot of women had already complained saying they see him in dream-like situations at night coming to have sex with them,” the source said.
Another woman who spoke to TellZim News said the women once approached the suspect’s wife and she reportedly could not even deny the allegations.
Another reliable source said the man was transferred from Rusape prison and Mutare Farm prison after women in those places had raised the same issue.
“This is not new. When he was working at Rusape prison, he was transferred facing the same allegations. He was transferred also from Mutare farm prison because of that the mubobobo thing,” another source said.
Efforts to get a comment from the man were fruitless as his mobile number was not reachable by the time of going to print.local

MASVINGO – National People’s Party (NPP) president Dr Joice Mujuru will visit the province on May 11 at Maungwa business centre in Gutu South to address a party rally.
According to party officials, the visit is meant to commission the newly-elected provincial and national leadership and to update the people on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that the party signed with MDC-T.
Speaking to TellZim News, senior NPP member Jeffryson Chitando urged people to attend the rally in their thousands.
“All people are invited to attend the rally. This is the beginning of launching our party in the rural areas and the history of the death of Zanu PF will be marked at Maungwa.
“We also urge the youth to register to vote because it is the first step to break the umbilical cord of the Zanu PF stronghold in rural areas and we believe it is the first step to bury Zanu PF once and for all,” Chitando said.
He also went on to say the rally is meant to give an address on the state economy and to launch the 2018 election campaign.local

Memory Rasa

MASVINGO – A 33-year-old man from Sisk in Mucheke was last week jailed for indecently assaulting a 15-year-old girl by forcing her to masturbate him and ejaculating on her hands without her consent.
Although he pleaded not guilty to the charge when he appeared before Masvingo Provincial Margistarte Langton Ndokera on April 27, 2016, Kevin Masabayana (33) was found guilty as charged and sentenced to 12 months of which three months were suspended.
It was the State’s case that on March 24, 2016, around 16:00 hrs, the 15-year-old girl had gone to Musabayana’s place of residence where her friend resides as a tenant but did not find her.
When she was leaving, the accused called her saying he wanted to give her his electricity card so that she could give it to her friend who had gone to the shops so that she could buy electricity.
The accused then dragged her into a room and locked the door before forcing the child to squeeze his already erect manhood and later spilled white substance on her hand.
Masabayana then gave the child a cream jacket to put on as she was shivering and told her to keep it saying it was his daughter’s which no longer fits.
The jacket was produced in court as evidence.
Coster Sesenyani prosecuted.local

Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI – Students from the Zimbabwe Staff College who are taking part in the Joint Commandant Staff Course number 30 last week toured the best-performing sugarcane farms owned by indigenous farmers where they expressed appreciation of the role being played by the farmers in the development of the local economy.
A hundred and twenty-three army officers from the SADC region and Nigeria who are taking part in the course visited the Incorruptible Sappers Farm which is owned by Major Faster Gono (Rtd).
The farm, located in Hippo Valley, produces more than 140 tons of cane per hectare, making it the best farm in the region.
Commandant Zimbabwe Staff College, Brigadier General Josphat Kudumba said the team was touring various areas that are playing a critical role in the survival of the economy of the country.
“We are on a study tour with students of the Joint Commandant Staff Course which is designed for students to study defence and security issues and as we might be aware, security studies these days are much more diversified.
“We look at various areas of how the economy of Zimbabwe is surviving. We have already visited other industries including the mining sector and this specific trip is for us to know how much the industry contributes to the economy and this is important for our national security studies,” said Brig Gen Kudumba.
Speaking at the same event, former Tongaat Hullet executive Farai Musikavanhu said the sugar industry was key to national economic development.
“We harvest an average yield of 110 tons per hectare and the yield that we get from those tons is around 13.8 tons of raw brown sugar. The revenue per ton is around $540 – 600 and we translate it to around $7 400 per hectare revenue….In a year, we harvest 4.7 million tons of cane which can be processed up to 600 000 tons of raw sugar.
“In addition to that, you get molasses which can be cemented to produce ethanol and livestock feed. About four percent of cane tonnage produces 200 000 tons of molasses per year. We also have fibre or bargas at three percent.
“Bargas is of strategic importance in that we burn it in specialised boilers to produce electricity. During the milling season, the sugar industry does not import electricity from the national grid. In fact, we end up exporting into the national grid. Electricity from bargas can equate to something like 800 megawatts,” said Musikavanhu.local

Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI – Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs Shuvai Ben Mahofa has blamed government for neglecting Chilonga and Mwenezi bridges in Chiredzi district saying the derelict bridges were slowing development in the area.
Speaking at the commissioning of road equipment at Chiredzi Rural District Council by the Minister of Rural Development, Promotion and Preservation of National Culture and Heritage Abednigo Ncube last week, Mahofa said conservancies like Malilangwe Trust can be made to upgrade the bridges.
“We have conservancies here in Chiredzi which are owned by those who refused to leave the country in 1980. We should have forced them to construct those bridges because they have a lot of money,” said Mahofa.
She also blamed the government for misusing the resources in Chiredzi that she said if they had been properly utilised, local authorities would long have been able to build better bridges in place of what is currently there.
“This is one of the biggest councils in Zimbabwe which has many resources although the government takes some through taxes as has been highlighted before. If they were in control of these resources, they could have constructed the bridge themselves,” said Mahofa.
Turning to Ncube, Mahofa said there was need to enable council to create Private/Public Partnerships (PPPs) to solve some of the country’s development challenges.
“Minister I want you to tell President Mugabe that the council can do it through their Public Private Partnerships. We once wrote to him about that. Let’s give responsibility to those with the problem. I think they can solve it faster than anyone else,” she said.
The narrow and low Chilonga Bridge across the wide Runde River easily gets flooded in the rain season forcing villagers to use unsafe makeshift boats. Many lives have also been lost as desperate people tried to cross the bridge while it was flooded.local

MASVINGO – Workers Day celebrations held at Mucheke Stadium on Monday were dominated by loud calls for workers to fight for their rights in a desolate economy where the average employee can no longer afford the basics of life.
Kamurai Moyo, a National Executive member of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) who was representing the national president Peter Mutasa, expressed concern over the rate of unemployment which he said was signified by a demoralised working class.
“We used to fill these places when we do these celebrations but now look, there are few people here, and what does this signify; there are no workers,” said Moyo.
Moyo said the union could not desist from politics while workers were starving as the welfare of workers depended on good political leadership.
 “When people see us, they say ZCTU is now doing politics. We say yes, there is no way we can desist from politics while we are starving,” said Moyo.
In his speech, Moyo said a survey by ZCTU showed that a large number of the people are working suffer wage theft, a situation whereby workers fail to get their dues while their employers enjoy obscene luxury.
“At least 120 000 workers across the country worked without pay between 2015 and 2016 and about 350 000 of the formally employed workers live in poverty.
“We do not want to be misquoted here, the workers are not fighting a single person as some people would want to say, the workers are fighting for their rights,” he said.
The celebrations ran under the national theme: Fighting Unemployment, Poverty and Inequalities.local