One of the most senior and longest serving managers at the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) Masvingo depot, Nemiah Bob Mushango has died.
Mushango died in Harare last week after a short illness and was laid to rest at his rural home at Shinja homestead in Chimanimani.
He was buried with full military honours after being accorded the provincial hero status in recognition of the role he played during and after the liberation struggle.
Mushango, or ‘Bob’ as he was affectionately called by colleagues, died at the age of 62 and is survived by his wife and six children.
Hundreds of people from all walks of life thronged Shinja homestead to pay their last respects to a man whom many described as an honest, principled and a true unifier.
He was described as having had no time to entertain mediocrity not only by his family but by anybody he came into contact with too.
Levison Khombe, the VID manager for Mutare depot who worked with Bob in the transport ministry since 1984, said the gap left by Mushango in the ministry will be difficult to fill.
“The ministry has been left poorer; we have been robbed of a very hardworking man who defied all odds especially during the economic depression that we went through as a country by remaining dedicated to his duties.
“We are talking about a guy who could dedicate 80 percent of his time to work and in his 38 years of service to the ministry, we never heard of Bob being called for any disciplinary hearing particularly with things to do with corruption. This speaks volume about how the man loved and respected his job,” Khombe said.
Mushango joined the liberation struggle in the 1970s and as the country marched towards independence, he went to Malta where he studied for a diploma in motor mechanics.
He returned in 1983 to join the transport ministry as a vehicle inspector.
The following year he was made depot manager for Masvingo, a position he held until he was transferred to head the Chiredzi deport in 2013, a position he held until his untimely death.news

Harare – The

(GMC) is roping in community newspapers and radio in the quest for improved societal relations and better representation of women in the media space, TellZim News can reveal.
GMC, formerly called the Federation of African Media Women of Zimbabwe (FAMWZ) says it acknowledges the critical role that community media can play in reversing deep-rooted attitudes that perpetuate patriarchy at local level.
“The media have the capacity to amplify the message of equality; beginning at their own space within the workplace and going into communities as agents of social change,” said the organisation’s Mahara Goteka.
He was speaking in Harare at a workshop for journalists and other stakeholders from community newspapers and radio stations around the country.
He said the country’s media environment was characterised by the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of women issues in the production of news.
“That can change if the media put their minds to it. Transformation has to begin with gender mainstreaming in the newsroom and expanded into the way journalists do their sourcing. The idea is to have as many female voices as possible in the stories we read, listen to and watch,” he said.
The workshop was also graced by Mercy Kappen, who is the Executive Director at Visthar Academy of Justice and Peace in the Indian city of Bangalore.
Kappen travelled to Zimbabwe to facilitate in a series of workshops on gender and the media.
“The experiences of women in Zimbabwe are the experiences of women elsewhere in the world; constrained by biases that have always favoured men, and restricted by cultural-driven imbalances that can evened by the sustained efforts of the media,” said Kappen.
She also called for the dismantling of barriers that obstruct the progression of the girl child in the media industry, saying females must be accorded greater roles at both production and consumption levels of the value chain.
“The strategic goal is to transform the structural imbalances in the media industry by giving more opportunities to women so that they can partake in media ownership and control,” she added.
Meanwhile GMC is engaging stakeholders from the bigger national media as well as other interested groups in civil society to explore ways of attaining gender balance in the media and the communities they serve.news

Peter Chawapiwa

GUTU – Chiefs from all over the country have been urged to take the conservation of natural resources seriously while at the same time they uphold traditional norms and values in their communities.
The call was made by a spirit medium, Sekuru Jiri who comes from the Chivhu area and officiated at a traditional ceremony which was organised by incumbent Chief Gutu, Amon Edmond Masanganise at Jirimhanda in the Nyazvidzi farming area of Gutu District.  The ceremony was organised after a rockfall in the area was stopped by tree trunks from crushing villagers homes into oblivion.
“We must conserve our natural resources and keep our traditions alive. These play an active role in our daily lives. Nobody knows the reasons behind the misadventure of these balancing rocks which fell suddenly when they had been there since time immemorial.
“There is no doubt that our natural resources played a very important part from stopping these rocks from negatively affecting the people.
“Similar incidents have been witnessed in the past but only Chief Gutu has taken the responsibility of holding a traditional ceremony to thank our ancestors.
“It is the responsibility of all our traditional leaders in the country to ensure the conservation of natural resources and the maintenance of our rich tradition,” Sekuru Jiri said.
Sekuru Jiri, who said he had taken part in traditional ceremonies all over Zimbabwe said similar ceremonies must take place in other areas in Zimbabwe where a similar phenomenon had been witnessed.
A few years ago a balancing rock split in half in the Mapaike area of Chivi District narrowly missing a homestead which was built at the bottom of the mountain. Sekuru Jiri said such occurences were not limited to Masvingo Province but had been witnessed in other parts of the country.
Chief Gutu, who was assisted by other chiefs and headmen to plan for the ceremony urged traditional leaders to study the traditional background of the areas under their jurisdiction.news

Bothwell Chabarika

The Salvation Army’s Chief of the Staff Commissioner Brian Peddle and Commissioner Rosalie Peddle (World Secretary for Women's Ministries) will be coming to Zimbabwe to lead the long awaited 125 anniversary celebrations slated for 29 September to 02 October  2016 at Glamis Arena, Harare Agricultural Show Grounds.
The President of Zimbabwe, his excellence Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe will grace the event.
More than 70 000 soldiers from Zimbabwe Territory’s 18 divisions will throng the arena and there will be a hub of activity.
Special choral and brass groups expected to participate are from as far as Angola and the Zambia. The church's Chief of the will lead this congress. The congress will also feature the installation of the new territorial leaders, Commissioners Joash and Florence Malabi. Heads of denominations and all churches within the Army's ecumenical circles are also invited to attend this very important occasion.
Celebrations at divisional level has already been completed around the territory with the flag ceremonies held in all areas of the territory.
 In a nutshell, this is the journey that The Salvation Army has gone through so far in emancipating the people of Zimbabwe and in winning souls for God's kingdom as well as meeting human needs without discrimination for the glory of God.religious news

It’s very difficult to make me regret certain things that happen in life. I have been hiding this all the time – it has been my secret which I did not want to tell anyone, not even my future wife kkk neniwo ndototi future wife sekunonzi kune angadawo mupengo wakaita seni kudai. But honestly I did not want to tell you how I have grown to hate my country. In fact I have all the reasons to also think that even God hates Zimbabwe too.
Chinyika chino chakasekwa wena, this must be a cursed country, I wish I was born in Malawi or any other country because this country has made me the mad man that I am not. I think, I mean it’s my own thinking ladies and gentlemen. There are some moments that the owner of this country, I mean the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zimbabwe …. kkk whether private limited or unlimited, must be a bit more serious. I mean if you are dealing with people with genuine concerns you have to relax a little bit and listen to their demands and not just threaten them and go to some summits. We appreciate the need for our President to be attending these ‘crucial’ meetings but it becomes a problem when isuwo vana Mapombi get to realise that we have more of a visiting President than a resident President. This might be the reason why some of the ministers, I mean ivozve vana Tyson have the temerity and courage to grab all the land and sell it to some prophets. Ummmm but Kasukuwere nyarawo vamwe shamwari. How can you move around, going to all towns grabbing land for yourself and some few Zanu PF youth? Kasi ndikoka kuya kunonzi kugoverana pahukama. Mava kungodya rifa, abusing our resources in a broad day light.
But this is unfair, did I tell you that I spent the past week ndichingodya zvangu rotten bananas because I don’t even have money to buy maputi but vamwe I hear they are busy looking for US500 000 yekuzodya zvavo vari mushow grounds medu come December?
You are not even ashamed? Ndati shuwa shuwa hamunyari varume imi vematumbu! Zuro ndizuro makadya makeke paDzimbabwe apo takatarisa, and you spent almost one million dollars on the President’s birthday while the nation starved. I don’t want to talk about Chingwizi. You know what, as leaders – I mean if you want to pretend to be one, there is need for you to pretend kungonyarawo vanhu so. Are you not able to look at how things are – kungotarisawo mamirire ekunze. Things are tough, everyone is crying and of course I know you are quick to say masanctions – haa tibvirei netuma execuses twenhema. You just need to work hard in changing attitude and start to respect others and see people as people – kuona vanhu sevanhu. You must ask yourself kuti sei vanhu – povo, sei ichipembera after receiving news that the President is dead – is it that they want the President to die kana kuti panenyaya apa. The way you treat isu vana Mapombi is not good at all and I promise that one day kuchamuka kuine makore isu mipengo mukatadza kutidzora. This is the time for the President to listen to the concerns being raised by the people – flying away is not always the solution especially at this moment when the nation is burning.
Mboko akazobva here pa Mboko village apo? Kkkk. Mukadarika nekwaChirimudombo tell them kuti ndirimupenyu kasi ndirikukanga wire.
Mboko imboko!mapombi