Tinomutenda Midzi

MASVINGO – Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC), last week embarked on a clean-up campaign in Mucheke as part of the organisation’s social responsibility commitments.
At Mucheke Bus Terminus where much of the cleaning took place, the ZNFPC Masvingo provincial staff were joined by personnel from the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Masvingo City Council and other private individuals.
During the campaign, members of the ZNFPC also delivered their core services to the public.
Olga Muza, the ZNFPC Provincial Human Resources and Administration Officer, who spoke on behalf of Peter Vhoko – the provincial manager – said the campaign was meant to deliver outdoor services and to get feedback from the public.
“As ZNFPC, we know the importance of offering outdoor services. We don’t necessarily have to make people come to us but we also visit them to get feedback. Some people are shy to come and collect products like condoms from our offices. Providing public information and getting feedback is an effective tool in our work,” she said.
She said the campaign was also meant to create organisational visibility to the public.
“Some people have merely heard about us, some know where our offices are and some know very little about us. This campaign, through interacting with people, helped to create the visibility of ZNFPC. Many now know where to find us and above all, know more about our services,” Muza said.
ZNFPC is a parastatal operating under the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) and takes cognisance of the London Summit of 2012 which seeks to reduce unmet family planning needs.
The organisation also works to increase affordability, accessibility and availability of services to all, especially for young people between the ages of 14 and 19, whose unmet needs are high.news

GUTU – An acute shortage of safe drinking is seriously affecting some wards in Gutu district with concerned villagers calling on government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to drill boreholes to alleviate their plight.
Scores of villagers from Wards 19 and 21 who spoke to TellZim News said the persistent dry spell in the district had pushed down the water table, resulting the drying up of wells.
“We no longer have access to safe drinking water since most of our deep wells have dried up. Our riverbeds are dry and we now have to walk long distances in search of safe water.
“The few wells that still hold some little water are oversubscribed and cannot provide adequately supply everybody,” said Regis Ganyani.
Other villagers pleaded with non-governmental organisations like Action Contre la Faim (Action Faim) to come to their aid.
“We believe that the only lasting solution lies in the drilling of boreholes in the area. We have been faced with the same problem for some time but this time around it has become acute because our wells have dried up and there are no prospects that they will provide adequate water even if the rains come.
“We have continuously deepened our wells and some of them are now in excess of 30 feet deep but they have no water. Only government or NGOs can save our situation now,” said one villager.
A survey carried out by TellZim News showed that Ndirwo, Mabhari, Zengeya, Kudzerema, Mupereki and Mutero villages which lie next to each other have had no boreholes sunk in the area.
They rely mainly on their deep wells for safe water and resort to unsafe water from the riverbeds during the wet season.
Provincial Medical Director, Dr Ammadeus Shamu said while drilling boreholes was the solution it would take some time to implement the project.
“At the moment there are no funds available for the drilling of boreholes. Our partners in the NGO community are mainly focusing on the rehabilitation and maintenance of existing boreholes.
“If and when the funds become available we will consider drilling boreholes in the affected areas,” said Dr Shamu.news

Tinomutenda Midzi

MASVINGO – Police officers from the district anti-stock-theft unit have urged people to embrace the use of branding irons, which include detachable iron cast alphabets, to limit stock theft cases in the province.
Speaking at a meeting between Montana Carswell Meats (MC Meats) and its producers last week, Constable Winston Mabeka from the Business Against Stock Theft (BAST) forum, pleaded with the farmers to use branding irons saying it is for their own good.
“We all know that Masvingo has high rates of stock-theft and using branding irons can be a panacea to this ongoing theft crisis. Branding helps to search the owners of the beasts and by doing so, we will not have stray animals,” he said.
Branding is done in three categories namely provincial, district and personal branding.
To brand livestock, an application has to be done to the Provincial Administrator (PA) and District Administrator (DA).
Constable Mabeka said it is important to have all three brands per livestock.
“Having all the three brands per livestock is advisable. When we want to know the owner of a beast, we first check the provincial brand, the district brand and finally the personal brand and this perfects the owner of the beast,” Mabeka said.
This comes after the idea by police national anti-stock-theft co-ordinator, Assistant Commissioner Erasmus Makodza, who in August this year said people should brand their livestock as proposed by law enforcers to fight stock-theft.news

Jubilee Mahlamvana

ZVISHAVANE – The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) are now sniffing each other’s scent in a bid to respond to corruption outcries in the law enforcement sector.
This comes amid reports that police officers own the majority of ‘Fun Cargo’ vehicles that cause many accidents in towns and cities, including Zvishavane.
Zvishavane has recorded several cases of Fun Cargo-linked accidents, claiming many souls, the majority of which are said to belong to police officers.
Sources say a high-ranking delegation from ZRP visited Zvishavane last week to investigate the goings-on in and around the town with regards to traffic law enforcement.
The move is said to be a result of a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer (name withheld) who ferried people from Zvishavane to Mberengwa in a Fun Cargo and was involved in a fatal accident which claimed two lives while three other people got badly injured.
Close to 30 vehicles were impounded by the VID last week Thursday when eight VID vehicles from Gwanda and Bulawayo unexpectedly stormed Madeira complex, targeting ‘mushikashika’ operators who use Fun Cargos to ferry people in and around Zvishavane.
Sources said several of the impounded pirate taxis were then discovered to be owned by police officers.
“We heard that most of the Fun Cargos that are causing accidents here belong to police officers and we have come specifically for them,” said one officer who was part of the team that visited the town from Harare.
The officer is well-known for handling tough traffic problems and has promised to work hard to bring the culprits to book.
Many road users, however, criticised what they called an indiscriminate seizure of all Fun Cargo vehicles regardless of their ownership and business on the road.
Another motorist said the operation was very crooked since it victimises those who innocently hustle for a living.
“This is very unfair because we are being bombarded left, right and centre with the police on roadblocks everywhere slapping us with US$50.00 tickets to pave way for their vehicles to make money,” said the motorist.news

Increase Gumbo

CHIREDZI – In an incident that left Chiredzi residents shell-shocked, a 33-year-old police officer allegedly raped a 21-year-old pregnant Mozambican woman who was locked in the charge office for an alleged theft incident.
He was remanded in custody to October 24, for continuation of trial after he appeared at the magistrates’ court.
The court, led by Magistrate Tafadzwa Mhlanga, heard that the victim – a Mozambican lady who was presently staying in Chiredzi on an unidentified address – was in police custody after she was arrested for theft.
It is alleged that the police officer, Alec Mhlanga, who was doing charge office duties, allegedly raped the woman once without protection.
It is the State’s case that on October 11, 2016, the complainant was arrested and taken to Chiredzi police station facing charges of theft.
At the police station, she was handed to Mhlanga and the other police officer who was on duty because her condition was not proper for her to be locked in police cells.
The court also heard that during the night the complainant requested to use the toilet and she was escorted by Mhlanga while the other constable remained in the charge office.
After using the toilet, the woman was taken by Mhlanga to the investigations room where he told her that she was facing a very serious charge and the only way out was to have sexual intercourse with him so that he would facilitate her release from custody.
The court also heard that Mhlanga then ordered the complainant to hold the bench and raped her once without protection and ordered her not to tell anyone.
It is alleged that Mhlanga then took the lady back to the charge office where she spend the rest of the night.
The matter came to light the following morning when the complainant realised that Mhlanga had done nothing to facilitate her release and she later reported the case to the Constable who had taken over from Mhlanga in the morning, leading to his arrest.
Mhlanga is facing two charges, one of rape as defined in section 65 of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act and the other of abuse of duty as a public officer as defined in section 174 of the same act.
Liberty Hove prosecuted.                                                                                                                                             news

Isabel Ndlovu

ZVISHAVANE – Lot Sibanda of Mandava in Zvishavane was recently dragged to the Zvishavane Magistrates’ Court facing charges of deliberately destroying a colleague’s car.
He appeared before magistrate Peter Madiba accused of hiring a person to damage Admire Mayenga’s car and was remanded out of custody since the magistrate found it necessary for him to undergo psychiatric tests before standing trial.
Prior to his appearance, Sibanda had behaved weirdly; refusing to pay for a soft drink and some biscuits he had taken from a vendor outside court.
After eating, he said he did not have any money, and was put under police custody until his wife rescued him by paying.
In court, Sibanda stood accused of assigning an unidentified person to go and cut up Admire Mayenga’s car with a chisel.
The assigned person allegedly went to where the car was parked and did as he was told to do but the victim was later notified about the incident and he went to the police station to make a report.
When the police attended the scene they found the car in shambles.
The roof, door and the bonnet had been completely hacked off.
In his defence, Sibanda said he was tasked by council to clear all the scrap in Mandava as part of his campaign to stand as a Ward Councillor candidate in the 2018 elections.
He said he thought Mayenga’s car was scrap.
Talent Tadenyika stood for the state.news

file pic

CHIREDZI – The Lowveld Youth Development Services Association (LYDSA) last week rejected the Chiredzi’s 2017 draft budget at a consultative budget meeting held in Tshovani saying the draft does not create new revenue streams for the town.
Aleck Macharaga, the youth organisation’s chairman for Chiredzi ward 4, said the budget lacks provisions for projects that will bring new revenue to the council.
He said authorities must have explored other avenues of earning new revenue rather than rely solely on residents’ water bills.
“Council should consider other possible ways that can bring revenue to Chiredzi for instance the Chitsanga Hall where people used to come and pay to watch movies every Thursdays. We also have swimming pools that need renovations for them to attract paying swimmers,” Macharaga.
Another member of the LYDSA, Lloyd Simango also criticised the budget saying it does not provide for infrastructural upgrades and renovations.
“Let’s not rely on water revenue alone because, after all, proposed improvements of the Magwaza water systems in previous budgets have yielded nothing. Council has been budgeting for that project for a long time now but no change has been made. We are tired of empty promises,” said Simango.
Other young people who attended the meeting also criticised council plans to lease Chigarapasi beer hall saying the move would deprive the town of an important revenue source and worsen service delivery.
“Council should renovate Chigarapasi beer hall so that it regains its status as a thriving business that make money and pay the salaries of workers. We must follow the contemporary trends and install new technologies there; people no longer want to watch a soccer match on a small screen,” said one attendant.news