Brighton Chiseva

03 April 2017, MASVINGO – Our Inheritance, an inclusive student club at Great Zimbabwe University (GZU), has joined hands with City of Masvingo to launch an anti-pothole campaign targeted at plugging some of the most damaged roads in the city.
Heavy rains over the past weeks have worsened the state of the roads in Masvingo, with motorists having a hard time negotiating through huge potholes on most of the roads.
The group recently carried-out a pothole-filling exercise as part of belated Women’s Day celebrations.
The exercise ran under the theme “Accelerating Gender Balance and Ethics by Celebrating International Women’s Day”.
City of Masvingo Mayor Hubert Fidze thanked the students for helping to strengthen the bond between the city and the university.
 “We appreciate this positive move. It shows we are working together for the development of our city,” said Fidze.
Our Inheritance founder and events coordinator Jennifer Chitanda said the programme was meant to show that students were responsible residents of the city.
 “We use these roads with our buses to and from school so we saw it necessary to put our energies together and contribute to their rehabilitation. As students, we need to appreciate that we live in a tolerant city which treats us right,” said Chitanda.
Chitanda also said the event was just the beginning as the club had a series of social responsibility plans lined up for the current and next semesters.
Event facilitator Struggle Desire Nyahunda said the club was meant to unite students from different political persuasions so that they become active, responsible citizens.
“The club was founded after the realisation that what divides students is not bigger than what can unite them,” said Nyahunda.local

LCDZ’s Jerad Maguta standing by the car donated to Capota

Lloyd Shunje

03 April 2017, MASVINGO – Humanitarian organisation Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe (LCDZ) last week donated a Toyota Hilux double cab 2016 edition to Margaret Hugo (Copota) Primary School for the blind.
The car was received by Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ) Education Secretary Samson Shava, Copota head Simbarashe Manjere, Tapiwa Madamombe, LCDZ provincial coordinator Jerad Maguta and Farai Chikwature from the organisation’s offices in Harare.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, LCDZ programmes manager Greaterman Chivandire said the car will assist in community rehabilitation programmes.
“The vehicle was acquired to assist in the implementation of the Community Based Rehabilitation Programme. It will also assist in ensuring that services reach every person with a disability within their areas of residence.
“This car will make it easier for our provincial team to access communities that have people living with disabilities so that they can be empowered,” said Chivandire.
Speaking during at the event, Shava said the vehicle will assist the team in assessment work as well as in the identification of community members who need assistance.
“The organisation will use the vehicle to conduct the necessary programmes and activities. With this vehicle, it will be easy to access all communities and to make follow ups where there is need,” said Shava.
Last year, LCDZ, through Copota, donated a wheel chair to a rape victim in Zaka and assisted in her successful pursuit of justice which later saw the rapist being sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.local

Machaya (left) hands over food stuffs to Matambura family member

Brighton Chiseva

03 April 2017, BIKITA – Businessman and Zanu PF member, Everson Machaya has stretched a generous hand to the Matambura family of Mudaniri village under Chief Mukanganwi whose home was destroyed by a landslide earlier this month.
The family’s home was destroyed and household property was crushed after the floods triggered a massive landslide which saw heavy boulders gliding from a nearby mountain. One person was injured in the disaster.
Machaya recently donated groceries which included cartoons of sugar, flour, rice, soap and other basics.
The goods were handed over in the presence of Ward 9 councillor Sabina Kujongonya Mukaro and other relatives to the victims.
Speaking during the event, Machaya said Christian values oblige people to help those in need and to show compassion to the less fortunate.
“When I heard that there was a disaster in my home area, I saw it fit to come to the aid of the affected people. We are duty-bound to live in accordance with our Christian values,” said Machaya.
After receiving the donation, Remina Mukurunge Matambura said she never thought she would be shown that kind of generosity after the disaster.
“I am very happy to realise that there are people who still care for the poor whom they are not even related to. This has left a mark on us as a family and I will always remember this,” said Mutambura.
Councillor Mukaro also thanked Machaya for being in touch with the realities of his home area.
“If all of us could be this kind to the vulnerable people in our communities and if everyone cared, our areas would easily develop. We must all learn from what Machaya has done here,” said Mukaro.local

Peter Chawapiwa

GUTU – Residents of the new town of Mpandawana want the Town Board to be weaned off the Gutu Rural District Council (RDC) which they accuse of diverting revenue collected from the town to service rural areas.
Residents who spoke to TellZim News said they were not happy with the manner in which the 2017 budget was allocated, arguing that they contribute the lion’s share of the revenue yet there is little to show of it in terms of service delivery.
“We were surprised to hear that the rural council was actually proposing to allocate funds to the Town Board. We were of the opinion that this year, the board would come up with its own budget as per information that was conveyed to us when the members took their oaths of office last year,” said Clarissa Masocha, a concerned ratepayer.
She accused authorities of reneging on earlier pledges to leave responsibility for the town in the hands of the Town Board after one year.
“We don’t see the value of the rates we are paying because the services we are getting do not match the money we are paying.
“The bulk of the budget is being gobbled by the rural council yet the areas under its jurisdiction contribute very little to the coffers. Roads in the residential areas are in very bad shape and there are endless leaks on the sewer pipes.
Other residents said service delivery had deteriorated because a powerless town board working at the pleasure of the RDC was appointed.
“The board has to be independent. We can’t continue with a situation whereby we are made to pay for services being rendered elsewhere,” said another resident.
When contacted for comment, Town Board chairperson Gabriel Mapepa said he could not comment on the issue.local

File pic

Peter Chawapiwa

03 April 2017, GUTU – An adulterous pair from Gutu died last week in a suspected runyoka incident when they failed to separate from each other after they had met clandestinely for their usual sexual escapades near Gutu Mission.
TellZim News was informed that the pair, whose names were not released were having an extra marital affair behind the married woman’s husband’s back. The man involved in the affair was employed at Gutu Mission as a security guard while the woman was a housewife.
The pair met as usual on March 5, 2017 and went missing from that date until their bodies were discovered in an advanced state of decomposition last week on Monday. Villagers who spoke to this publication said the woman’s husband had heard of the affair and allegedly ‘fenced’ his wife.
“What happened is that after being intimate the pair became locked together and could not separate from each other.  They should have shouted for help but must have been ashamed of being found in such a compromising position and thus decided to forcibly separate.
“That is how the most probably died. The husband knew that they were having an affair and must have fenced his wife with runyoka,” the villagers said.
Photos circulating on social media platform, Whatsapp, in Gutu last week showed the woman’s body stark naked with her lover half dressed in a white pair of trousers lying next to her.
Piniel Mafuranhunzi, a traditional healer, said runyoka was not very common in Gutu but it was possible that the woman was fenced without her knowledge.
“She would have stopped the affair had she known that she was fenced. Fencing women is not encouraged as it takes away life unnecessarily,” he said.
While the bodies were collected for post mortem on Tuesday last week police in Gutu could not shed any light on the issue.local

Jubilee Mahlamvana
   
03 April 2017, ZVISHAVANE – People in Mototi area under Chief Mazvihwa in Zvishavane are living in fear of hyenas which are terrorizing their livestock even during the day.
Villagers who spoke to TellZim News expressed concern as they said their livestock especially goats, calves and donkeys as well as primary school children are susceptible to attacks by the hyenas, given the dense vegetation in the area.
“The hyenas are targeting mostly goats and this forces us to closely monitor our livestock in the bushes as they also attack even during the day. Our greatest fear is that our primary school children might fall prey to these hyenas. We appeal to the responsible authorities to attend to the matter as soon as possible because the hyenas are really giving us sleepless nights,” said Abraham Ndlovu.
Meanwhile a live crocodile was found in Mtambi area under chief Mazvihwa, some ten kilometers away from Ngezi River.
The reptile was reported to the police. Midlands provincial police spokesperson Inspector Joel Goko neither confirmed nor denied the development as he said he was away in Bulawayo.
It is reported that the villagers later killed the crocodile as it tried to escape before the police visited the scene.local