Itai Muzondo

Masvingo – Masvingo City Mayor Hubert Fidze has urged residents to use water sparingly as levels in the city’s main water source; Lake Mutirikwi,  have drastically fell to an alarming 7.6 percent.
Speaking to TellZim News, Mayor Hubert Fidze, said if no considerable rainfalls are recorded, the city will run dry within a period of two weeks.
“We are at risk of running dry. The main challenge is that water levels are running low at a time when no rainfall has been recorded and we are experiencing very high temperatures. Residents are the only people who can save us from the looming danger by using water wisely.
“Currently the water level is at 7.6% meaning we have only 2.5% to use because when water levels drop to 5%, authorities will have to shut down. In the previous two weeks, the water level was on 9% and today (Tuesday) it’s 7.6%. So if we continue with irrational use of water, we will soon be dry,” Fidze said.
Meanwhile, Masvingo City Council recently announced that the installation of an emergency water pump at Lake Mutirikwi would cost an estimated US$1.5 billion. The council also had plans to rehabilitate seven boreholes sunk during the 1992 drought though economic challenges saw the City fathers failing to meet the goal.news

Isabel Ndlovu

ZVISHAVANE – A man from Zvishavane recently shocked the court gallery when he blamed the government saying it neglected maintaining our roads, a situation he said resulted in him having an accident.
Charles Takayambigwa (48) of New Lobengula in Bulawayo, was facing culpable homicide charges after he allegedly caused the death of his child when his Toyota Ipsum veered off the road, overturned several times before landing on its roof.
He said many accidents in the country were a result of the poor state of the roads that the government was not maintaining.
Magistrate Story Rushambwa, nonetheless, ordered him to pay US$400 fine or serve three months imprisonment.
It was the State’s case that on May 29 this year, Takayambigwa unlawfully drove the motor vehicle which he failed to control resulting in the accident.
The magistrate pointed out that the accused acted negligently by failing to reduce speed while approaching a curve as he was aware that death could occur.
After the accident, the body of the deceased was taken to Zvishavane District Hospital but the accused escaped unscathed.
 “I want you to tell our government to do something about the roads as they are causing the accidents. It was not my fault that I was involved in the accident. It was because I hit a pothole,” said Takayambigwa.news

Isabel Ndlovu

ZVISHAVANE – Lameck Chikura appeared before Zvishavane Magistrates Court charged with theft of trust property as defined in Section 113(2)(d) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9.23.
Chikura denied the allegations but magistrate Story Rushambwa remanded him in custody for continuation of trial.
The court heard that Chikura is employed at the Zvishavane branch of Delta Beverages as a Sales and Distribution Supervisor.
It is the State’s case that on the June 2, June 10, June 24 and 26 this year, Chikura received sums of US$568, US$942, US$383 and US$532 cash respectively from Delta Beverages Masvingo to give to Truck Assistants and drivers in Zvishavane as refund for missed meals.
The accused person paid $365 to the Truck Assistants and drivers and converted $2060 to his own use. Magistrate Rushambwa remanded Chikura in custody and is expected to reappear in court soon. Talent Tadenyika prosecuted.news

MASVINGO – A sexually depraved 50-year-old man from Gwanyane village under Chief Mapanzure was recently sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping his 15-year-old daughter twice in a car.
The man has since appeared before Masvingo provincial magistrate Collet Ncube facing two counts of raping the minor.
The father, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, had five years of his sentence suspended on condition that he does not commit a similar offence in the next 5 years, meaning he will serve an effective 25 years imprisonment.
It was the State’s case that on a date unknown to the prosecutor, the father raped his daughter once in his car and the terrified girl did not report the issue to anyone.
On May 11, 2016, the perverted father once again lured the girl into his bedroom and raped her once.
The case was then reported to her mother, who later called the culprit’s brothers to explain the case to them.
The case was later reported to the police leading to the arrest of the man.
Taonga Musina represented the State.news

MASVINGO – A 58-year-old woman from Mahapa village under Chief Hama in Chirumhanzu, was last week sentenced to two years in prison for assault after she struck her husband with a stone on the back.
Appearing before magistrate Langton Ndokera, she pleaded guilty for contravening the Domestic Violence “physical abuse” Act as defined in section 3 (1) (a) of the Domestic Violence Act Chapter 5:6.
It was the State’s case that on the October 8, 2016 at around 2200hrs, the accused Aluiziah Masvatu (58) visited her aunt who stayed at Mushagashe in Masvingo where she shouted at Erasmos Usvatu (60).
She accused him of being an HIV positive bed hopper.
Usvatu left the accused person and went into his cousin, Albert Mapurisa’s room but the accused followed him with a stone which she used to strike him.
Masvatu then took the complainant’s clinic cards and tore them; throwing away the complainant’s tablets.
The complainant sustained injuries on the back as a result of the assault.
James Murambiza stood for the state.

MPANDAWANA – A 25-year-old member of the African Apostolic Church, popularly known as ‘Positori yekwa Mwazha’, will regret the day he decided to take alcohol in defiance of his church doctrine after he was arrested for driving without a licence, impersonating a CIO officer and escaping lawful custody.
Edmore Chifamba of Manjengwa village under Chief Gutu pleaded guilty to all charges when he appeared before Gutu Magistrate Court.
He was remanded to October 21 for continuation of trial.
It is the State’s case that on October 05, 2016 Chifamba was caught along the Gutu-Buhera road driving a Toyota Noah, registration number AED 4989, without a licence.
He was also carrying passengers in the car.
When he was ordered to park the vehicle on the side of the road, Chifamba, who was wearing Zanu PF regalia, flushed a green card and told the police officers that he worked with CIO and was a presidential aid and was in a hurry.
The court heard that the accused proceeded with the journey but was arrested on his way back after the police had established there was no state operative by his name in Gutu.
At Gutu charge office, Chifamba allegedly ran away when a constable Mugutwa was preparing to record a statement.
 Chifamba pleaded for clemency, saying he was drunk on the day he escaped police custody and could hardly remember what actually happened.
Millicent Azangwe prosecuted.news

Tatenda Shunyai

MASVINGO – Chairperson of Zimbabwe National Editors Forum (ZINEF), Njabulo Ncube has called for the media to take its part in the democratisation of through ethical conduct.
He was speaking at a meeting of media stakeholders hosted by Zimbabwe – United States Alumni Association (ZUSAA) in Masvingo last week.
Ncube said the media in Zimbabwe has lost respect due to their unprofessionalism, leading to ethical dilemmas.
“Citizens often accuse the media of failing to perform their mandate of informing, educating and entertaining but we have not failed. Instead, the media is faced by ethical dilemmas,” said Ncube, referring to recent allegations of corruption against some editors, journalists and their newsrooms.
Contrary to common assumptions, he said, there was no animosity between state-controlled and private media but only politicians taking advantage of the profession’s lack of integrity.
He said being called the Fourth Estate was, nonetheless, testimony of the critical role that the media has to play in the democratisation process.
On viability challenges faced by media houses, Ncube urged newspapers to be innovative with the stories they choose to give prominence, saying sales figures have gone down partly because newspapers are still preoccupied with political stories that no longer sale.
Head of Public Affairs Section at the US Embassy in Harare, David McGuire, said new media technologies had presented sustainability challenges to newspapers all over the world.
In the US, he said, print media is facing stiff competition from the internet and many newspapers had folded.
“You have to take anything you see on the internet with a pinch of salt though. You don’t know who wrote it and what their motives and agendas are,” McGuire said.news

Peter Chawapiwa

MASVINGO – State institutions in Zimbabwe must not show any political allegiance and remain apolitical if they are to effectively work towards the promotion of peace in the country, renowned academic and Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe president, Dr Takavafira Zhou has said.
He was speaking at a dialogue meeting jointly hosted by the National Transitional Justice Working Group (NTJWG) and TellZim News at Charles Austin Theatre.
The meeting was a platform for citizens to discuss how state institutions can be reformed so that they work for the promotion of peace in Zimbabwe.
Dr Zhou said as long as state institutions continued to pay their allegiance to Zanu PF, the current trend of violence, abductions and torture would continue.
“Peace is not merely the absence of war. Nor can it be reduced solely to the maintenance of a balance of power between rivals. The military, police and judiciary as state institutions have important roles to play in advancing the goal of peace through judicious non-partisan work,” said Dr Zhou.
Dr Zhou said since President Robert Mugabe’s historical speech on reconciliation in 1980, peace had eluded the country because the ‘reconciliation’ did not bring closure and was simply a top-down order with no effort made to consult the grassroots.
He added that institutions like the army, the police, secret services, the judiciary and the traditional leadership have to be reformed for successful reconciliation and genuine peace.
 “State security agents and chiefs continue to violate the rights of citizens because they know they will not be held accountable for their actions,” said Dr Zhou.
He said the open declaration of partisan allegiance by senior military officers had scuttled hope for a democratic handover of power.
“Army generals, represented by Brigadier Douglas Nyikayaramba, responded to calls by the MDC-T’s Morgan Tsvangirai for security forces not to meddle in politics by declaring that the security forces and Zanu PF were inseparable.
“Following the pattern set by their superiors like the late General Vitalis Zvinavashe in 2002, current Defence Forces Commander, General Constantine Chiwenga, Air Marshall Perence Shiri, prisons chief Paradzai Zimondi and Police Commissioner General, Augustine Chihuri, Nyikayaramba has indicated they would not serve under the leadership of anyone who did not have liberation war credentials,” he said.
Dr Zhou said only when these state institutions are reformed will there be genuine peace and healing in the country.news

MASVINGO – Elton Mangoma’s Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe (RDZ) Masvingo provincial chair lady, Hilda Sibanda last week broke into tears as she narrated the ordeal faced by women at the hands of state security forces.
Making a presentation during a dialogue meeting jointly facilitated by the National Transitional Justice Working Group Zimbabwe (NTJWGZ) and TellZim News, a teary Sibanda accused state security forces for ill-treating women who are in detention singling out the recent experience of Lynda Masarira at the hands of the police.
People were horrified late last month when a brutalised Masarira emerged from three months of detention with scarred buttocks.
“Today I want to speak on the side of all women. You find out that during the recent wave of protests which rocked the country, the police used a heavy hand against the demonstrators among them women whom they ill-treated.
“Women have had a torrid time in the political history of this country. They have been victimised from all corners.
“During the 2008 run-off elections women were gang raped and many of them have children whom they do not know their fathers. They have been scarred for life and the government just turned the page and no attempts were made to bring the perpetrators to justice,” said Sibanda.
Masarira was arrested in June for participating in protests against the government and was then transferred to solitary confinement in a male section of the Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison after she protested harsh prison conditions.
Sibanda claimed that all the women who were detained recently over protests in Harare where flogged and put in same cells with men thus exposing them to rape.
“Lynda Masarira was arrested and was put in the same cell with male prisoners. Where in the world would you hear of anything like that?
“Her rights were violated and nothing happened to the abusive police officers. It would help if we hear that the abusive police officers have been arrested or the government pay some form of compensation to the victim,” said Sibanda before breaking into tears.news

ZVISHAVANE – Ukuso village is suffering from water shortages after the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) cut power supplies to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) in response to the water company’s failure to service its electricity bills.
Indications are that Zinwa owes the power utility about US$80 000 in unpaid bills and the ward 11 village has been suffering the consequences since September.
A villager who spoke to TellZim News accused one Licent Nkomo from Zinwa for lying to the villagers that water was no longer being pumped to their village because of mechanical faults at the pumps.
“Nkomo and his colleagues used to come here often to collect money for water bills and they would go door to door collecting the money but now that we are having water problems, he is playing hide and seek,” said the villager.
Other villagers complained that they are being levied for water they are not even receiving.
When contacted for comment, Nkomo confirmed that people were not receiving water because Zesa had cut electricity supplies to the pumps because of arrears but refused to make further comments.news