Zedias Chitiga

13 March 2017, ZVISHAVANE – A woman from Muganhu village in Makacha under Chief Mapanzure was recently left nursing serious wounds after her neighbour hit her with a brick and proceeded to beat her over alleged unfair distribution of food aid.
Suwisai Muganhu was dragged before Zvishavane Magistrate Archie Wochiunga and was convicted of assaulting Chipo Sibanda after his own guilty plea.
He was sentenced to 20 days in prison or alternatively to pay a US$100 fine.
Appearing for the State, Stanley Ncube said on January 8, 2017, Muganhu hit Sibanda with a brick on the head and the complainant felt down.
He then started beating the complainant on her head until one villager, Sadam Mlangeni, who had heard the complainant’s cries, rushed to the scene to restrain Muganhu.
This was after Chief Mapanzure called a meeting in the area to discuss the distribution of food aid. Serious disputes emerged at the meeting, with some villagers complaining that committee leaders were corruptly allocating themselves and their relatives more food.
It was heard that Sibanda and Muganhu had found themselves on different sides of the divide at the meeting. After the meeting, Muganhu later waited for Sibanda in the bush where he ambushed her.
Last month, Chief Makumbe of Buhera called for the suspension of food aid, saying it was causing serious divisions in communities with villagers now bewitching each other over the food.local

A commercial diver is a professional who is paid to go underwater to do specific tasks such as construction, retrieval, maintenance, inspection, welding, repairs, deep sea exploration, and photography.
Ratanang Maremane, who is now based at the port in East London, was born and bred in Soweto, South Africa. She is one of the women pioneers in the maritime industry in her career path as a diver for the South African Navy and Transnet.
Maremane is currently employed by Transnet and she is also in her final semester as a Civil Engineering Student at Walter Sisulu University. She wants to merge her commercial diving qualification with the qualification cial Diving School in 2011.
“I wanted to become a fighter pilot so I applied for a learnership programme with the SANDF (South African National Defence Force). After the learnership, I received a contract that instructed me to report to the SA Naval Base in Saldanha Bay.
“I resigned from the SA Navy in 2008 and I worked for the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) from 2009 as a scientific diver.
“Marine life is almost harmless if you don’t disturb it, even sharks. I was on record when I got 30 cm close to a two metre baby shark. I wanted to touch it but my instinct overwhelmed me,” says Maramane.
“Opportunities are there but the youth, particularly from inland, are not aware of certain career fields. I was not aware that there is such a thing as commercial diving before I joined the SA Navy.
“The dangerous nature of the job is also one of the reasons why there are not enough females in the industry. The other challenge particularly for non-white communities is the fear of water and the superstitions that come with it,” says Maramane.local

 by Charles Maregere

Ruth Mutopo

Upenyu Chaota

13 March 2017, MASVINGO – Zimbabwe Divine Destiny (ZDD) leader Bishop Ancelmo Magaya has criticised Christians for being lethargic in their response to socio-political injustices, urging the church to rise up and confront the problems.
Magaya was in Masvingo recently where he met with leaders from different denominations, encouraging them to take a leading role in fighting bad political leadership.
“The church should play an active role in the politics of the country. A lot of injustices have been happening but the church has chosen to ignore all that.
“It is high time the church rises to be counted. We cannot let our leaders get away with corruption while we preach to the same people getting robbed every day,” Bishop Magaya said.
He expressed concerned over the political turmoil in the country and singled out the arrest of Pastor Patrick Mugadza for allegedly undermining the authority of the President as uncalled for.
Pastor Mugadza was arrested weeks ago after ‘prophesying that President Robert Mugabe will die on October 17, 2017.
“Where is the church when all this is happening? We have allowed the government to supress the will of the people and crush dissent with brute force.
“Pastor Mugadza is languishing in prison for prophesying that President Mugabe will die at a particular date. Everyone will die one day so why make a big deal out of it.
“If they have a genuine case against him, why not prosecute him? The case is failing to take off because Mugadza has no case to answer,” said Magaya.
Christian Voice International Zimbabwe (CVI-Z) leader Pastor Tapfumaneyi Zenda added his voice saying the church should play a leading role in the governance of the country.
“Most churches still need enlightenment on their roles in the country. We cannot preach peace when the country is in turmoil. First we have to address the turmoil then preach peace,” said Pastor Zenda.local

Bishop Ancelmo Magaya

Simbarashe Makazhe

Moses Ziyambi

People living with disabilities feel not enough is being done to mainstream their participation in elections and other democratic processes with government and opposition parties lacking genuine commitment to advance the democratic aspirations of the marginalised people, TellZim News has learnt.
The constitution provides for equal participation in civic duties by all eligible citizens and goes on, in Chapter 2 Section 22, to obligate government ‘to consider the specific requirements of persons with all forms of disability as one of the priorities in development plans’ as well as to ‘encourage the use and development of forms of communication suitable for persons with physical or mental disabilities’.
These constitutional requirements, people living with disabilities say, are not being observed as the preoccupation of politicians seems to be about winning, from fully-bodied people only, the mandate to govern.
“It is very unfortunate that issues to do with people living with disabilities are prioritised neither in national government policy formulation nor in the mainstream media and public discourse. We do have constitutional safeguards to protect the rights of the disabled but there is no commitment to enforce that,” says Bishop Ancelmo Magaya of the Zimbabwe Divine Destiny (ZDD).
Himself being visually impaired, Bishop Magaya says there are no measures that have been put in place to guarantee the privacy of blind people when they cast their votes.
“You have to go in there with somebody who will put the mark on your behalf and you can do nothing to make sure that they have respected your choice but to only put your faith in that person that they will not distort your selection.
“Why don’t we have a provision for Braille ballot papers so that anybody who is blind can also say, ‘My vote is my secret’ and why don’t we have special facilities for people on wheelchairs?” Bishop Magaya says.
He is also convinced things can only get better if more people are trained in Braille and sign language competencies. This would, however, require greater official commitment towards introducing more people to Braille and Sign language just as much as there is a fervent enthusiasm that exists towards making more people learn, for instance, the Chinese language.  
In the recent Bikita West parliamentary by-election, some deaf people who had come to vote at some polling stations encountered huge problems as nobody knew how to effectively communicate with them.
At Bikita Fashu polling station for example, Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) officials had a torrid time trying to give explanation to a deaf person who turned up to cast his vote since there was no one who could understand Sign language.
Ironically, Sign Language is among the country’s 16 languages recognised in the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Social activist, Agnes Chindimba who participated in the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) under the 2016 Mandela Washington Fellowship agrees with Bishop Magaya and sees the challenges of people living with disabilities as multi-pronged, requiring specified responses.
“The problems that disabled people deal with at polling stations differ according to disability, for instance if you are visually-impaired, you have no privacy because someone has to assist you to vote,  meaning your vote can be manipulated,” says Chindimba.
Being deaf herself, Chindimba regards the quest by the disabled to get fully involved in the democratic processes as an uphill struggle.
“If you are deaf, you struggle to understand things as there are usually no interpreters. This goes even to the campaigning period. I would want the person I would be giving my vote to involve me in his/her campaigns by providing interpretation services at rallies so that I can make an informed decision.
“Failure to provide special or priority desks for disabled people on polling day is also a problem because many disabled people hate the shoving that sometimes happen at polling stations whereby the none-disabled will shove and pull to vote first and disregard disabled people like those in wheelchairs.
“When violence breaks out, disabled people are the most affected because they can’t run like everyone else and if you are deaf, you wouldn’t know what is going on until it is too late to save oneself.
“Most people living with disabilities especially in rural areas are never considered as observers or voting officers, something which is very unfair. If they are considered, they would be able to help fellow disabled voters where necessary,” says Chindimba.
Simbarashe Makazhe, a disabled part 4:2 student pursuing an Honours in Psychology degree with the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU), feels there is an inherent disregard for the needs of the disabled people in all facets of life.
“It doesn’t begin and end at election time or in electoral processes; rather, there is often very little, if any, priority given to the evening of odds that disabled people have to deal with every day, be it at home, at work, at school and in democratic systems,” says Makazhe.
“We need ramps for wheelchairs at polling stations. ZEC (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) personnel must be conversant with sign language. They must partner civic organisations to reach out to disabled people in rural areas.
“It would also be helpful if BVR (Biometric Voter Registration) facilities are made friendly to visually impaired people.
“We have a fairly good constitution, yes, but what is a constitution without favourable commitment from those with the influence and power to change things?” quips Makazhe.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN) national director, Rindai Chipfunde Vava is unhappy that authorities have not yet key information regarding the mapping of polling stations, a situation that has made it difficult to gauge how people living with disabilities will be affected.
“The mapping criteria of the polling stations has not been availed save for reports that the ZEC is working with councils and traditional leaders to determine boundaries.
“As such, it is difficult to say if the process is taking into consideration the needs of people living with disabilities,” said Chipfunde – Vava.
She also criticised ZEC for the lack of clarity regarding the need for Braille material to cater for people with visual impairments.
“ZESN calls upon ZEC to consult with organisations that represent people living with disabilities to ensure that the polling stations are set up in public places that cater for their needs,” says Chipfunde Vava.politics,local

13 march 2017, MASVINGO – Two men from Madziya village under Chief Murove in Mwenezi are this week expected to appear in the High Court of Masvingo for allegedly beating a 52-year-old woman to death  for wearing a ‘mini-skirt’ at a traditional beer party.
Personally Ngundu (29) and Torerai Gambaza (47) will be charged for the murder of Lessie Temai as defined in Section 47 (1) of the Criminal Law and Codification Reform Act Chapter 9:23.
It is alleged that on March 21, 2015, around 1600 hrs the two accused persons and the deceased were drinking beer with other villagers at Esnath Ngundu’s homestead when the now deceased started fighting with her boyfriend, Mukowa Moyo, over her skirt which Moyo had complained that it was too short.
The accused persons interfered and allegedly started assaulting Temai and Moyo ordering them to stop making unnecessary noise.
Temai did not take the beating lightly and started shouting at the first accused who responded by kicking her as she lay on the ground. The second accused allegedly joined and also started to assault Temai.
The now deceased was later taken inside the hut by Esnath who laid her on the blanket where she eventually died around a few moments later.local