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Schools quarantine students over non-payment of fees

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Schools quarantine students over non-payment of fees
By Itai Muzondo
Some schools in Bikita district in Masvingo province have resorted to quarantining students after protracted  battle with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education policy which denies schools to send pupils home for unpaid fees.
Several parents who filed complaints to Tell Zimbabwe disclosed that Mandiki Primary among other schools are quarantining students in classes where they are not taught because they either have fees arrears or current fees not yet paid.


Some of the students chased from schools are now selling bananas in town
The Provincial Education Director (PED) Zedias Chitiga however expressed that there is need for immediate attention to that situation.
“I am going to make investigations and deal with those errant schools ….it is not allowed, this is totally against policy. Every parent is obliged to pay fees so the child should suffer in no way for that “said the amazed Chitiga.
Meanwhile, some headmasters from schools which dismissed pupils over fees last week have since denied the allegations saying everything was being done by the School Development Committees (SDC).
“We are very worried because headmasters are not willing to negotiate with us, they are quarantine our children. Pupils from grade one to grade seven are put in one classroom from morning until they are dismissed around 1630 hours every day.
“The Ministry should come down here (Bikita) and correct this anomaly as soon as possible,” said one of the parents with children at Mandiki Primary.local

Civilians disarm police, cause chaos at Jerera

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Civilians disarm police, cause chaos at Jerera
Tell Reporter in Zaka
There was drama at Jerera police station this week when members of the public who felt provoked by police details on duty had a fierce fight with one officer until they disarmed him before bringing business at the camp to a grinding halt.
Narrating how it happened to Tell Zimbabwe, eye witnesses said it all started as  drama in a bar at Jerera Growth Point where a police officer identified as Constable Mandava was harassing patrons. Irked by his bahaviour, members of the public decided to fight back.
The officer was chased all the way from the Growth Point to the police base where he tried to use a gun to intimidate members of the public but the civilians did not retreat.
“They continued to fight until they disarmed him. Business at the camp was brought to halt as the public were baying for the constable’s blood,” said an eye witness.
Tell Zimbabwe was informed that some people who were injured during the skirmishes were rushed to Msiso hospital.
However, the injured could not get immediate attention due to logistical problems at the hospital.
“There was no medication ….not even bandages at Msiso,” said one of the sources in Zaka.
Meanwhile, two police officers from Zaka were dragged to a disciplinary hearing in Bikita this week after they were fingered in a case where St Peters private hospital owner Cephas Gwamure was threatened with death by ‘unknown’ assailants. One of the senior district officers from Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is also expected to testify in the same case in Bikita on Monday.Local

Schools dismiss students over fees

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Schools dismiss students over fees
 Itai Muzondo

Several schools around Masvingo province have this week sent students back home over fees.
Tell Zimbabwe saw some students from Masvingo Christian College and Mucheke High school and other various primary schools loitering in town claiming that they were dismissed from school over non-payment of fees.

Some of the pupils who were dismissed were captured selling bananas in the streets today
This comes against recent directive by the government to schools not to dismiss pupils over fees.
However, some schools such as Rujeko Primary School have called for an emergency meeting with parents and guardians to discuss a way forward on all pending accounts.local

Poor service haunts Masvingo Provincial Hospital

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Poor service haunts Masvingo Provincial Hospital
   .  Negligent nurses, demotivated doctors blamed for high infant mortality rate
Moses Ziyambi  

There is an outcry over allegations of worsening conditions at Masvingo General Hospital after several patients approached Tell Zimbabwe complaining of suffering abusive treatment at the hands of nurses and doctors at the hospital.
One woman claimed that she witnessed six expectant mothers losing their newly born babies due to inadequate care and outright recklessness on the part of nurses in the maternity ward.
“It’s not comfortable being in the maternity ward at Masvingo General Hospital because the nurses are rude. Worse still they can leave you alone for a long time if they think you are overreacting to labour pains,” said the woman who gave birth at the institution late last month.
“Some six mothers I shared the ward with lost their babies as a result of the carelessness,” said the woman.
“They were rushed for Caesarean operation after the nurses realised that it was too late. One of the nurses came back telling expecting mothers that anyone who would act like those women taken for caesarean operations would risk losing their babies,” she added.

Another woman who spoke to Tell Zimbabwe said she was roughed up during her entire stay at the hospital.
“When I was in labour they would shout at me and say I must push enough or else I would die with the child like many other women who came before me. I was lucky to get out of there alive with my child,” she said.
The hospital could not confirm nor deny the allegations, saying patients needed to register their complaints with authorities at the hospital.
“We have proper structures that are designed to cater for the complaints of our patients if they have any,” said Ruth Zulu, the hospital’s Public Relations Officer.
“Our mission is to help our nation achieve its health goals and we do all that we are supposed to do to meet patient expectations. I often interact with patients in the absence of nurses so as to give them room to report such issues freely,” she said.
She urged patients with complaints to feel free to approach her office at any time.
“If they fear victimisation, they can do it anonymously by writing on small pieces of paper and sliding them under my office door or they can do so upon being discharged from the hospital,” she added.Local

Traffic police arrested over corruption

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Traffic police arrested over corruption
Tell Reporter
Three traffic officers from Zaka police station were arrested over the weekend after they were caught red handed demanding bribes from motorists.
The three (names supplied) are appearing before disciplinary hearing in Bikita today.
Sources told Tell Zimbabwe that the trio who were at Chivamba roadblock – some 87 kms along Jerera – Chiredzi highway demanded a $7 bribe from a motorists. The motorist who did not have the money decided to remain at the roadblock for 30 minutes thereby denying the officers a chance to hide their loot.
While still at the roadblock, officer from internal police intelligence and contacted a spot check and they were found with US$ 84 which they failed to account for. A motorist who was still at the roadblock narrated how the three were demanding bribes leading to their arrest.
File photo …Officers who dispersed members of Masvingo Residents Trust who wanted to stage a demonstration in Masvingo recently.
“The three were found red handed and they were immediately arrested. They are supposed to court to our internal court in Bikita East today,” said a source at Zaka police station.
Efforts to get comment from Masvingo police spokesperson were fruitless.local

Gutu Central MP constructs school

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Gutu Central MP constructs school

By Tell Reporters in Gutu

Gutu Central constituency Member of the House of Assembly Lovemore Matuke has constructed a school in his constituency.  The school which is going to be the flagship of academic excellence is situated at Matuke’s Farm about 15 km from Mpandawana town along Harare road.

                          MP Lovemore Matuke
Speaker after speaker who gathered at the ground breaking ceremony at the school last week praised Matuke for promoting education in his constituency. Villagers praised their MP saying he was taking the right steps in promoting development in their area.

 However, Matuke said the school was going to  service not only people from his constituency since he was planning to set up international standards which would attract students from even beyond the country’s borders.
“We are going to be the best in terms of quality of education. We are setting high standards so that we become the province’s if not the country’s first preference whenever  parents think of sending their children to school,” said Matuke.
Teachers who attended the ceremony were already approaching Matuke seeking to be recruited at the school.
However, Matuke announced that he was not going to take teachers who do not have a very good track record.
“I will only take teachers who can bring 100 percent pass rate here,” he added.
Eight classrooms and five hostels have already been constructed at the school and work is in progress to complete all outstanding buildings before the end of the year..
Matuke said the school is going to open its doors any time from now.
The ground breaking ceremony was attended by several Members of Parliament from Masvingo Province.Local

Woman dies on way to funeral

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Woman dies on way to funeral
Kennedy Murwira

A Gutu woman died last month while she was on her way to attend a funeral in the Chihota Communal Lands in Mashonaland East leaving her relatives dumbfounded as to what actually transpired as she was and fit and well when she embarked on the journey.
The woman, Liliosa Mutero, nee Hapanyengwi, was married to Alphonce Mutero, a teacher by profession, and was travelling to attend to her mother-in-law’s sister’s funeral when she suddenly fell ill and died. Her husband left the profession a few years ago to run his businesses in the Chirumhanzu area in the Midlands Province. Liliosa remained a teacher at Chaka Primary school until the time of her death.

                                          Liliosa Mutero

A  family spokesman, Simon Mutero, said his sister-in-law was not ill at the time she departed for the funeral but started complaining of heartache and stomach pains just after the funeral cortege had left the Masvingo-Harare highway enroute for Chihota, She started started vomiting and the combi in which she was travelling had to stop several times while other mourners tried to diagnose the problem. Her situation deteriorated and other relatives had to abandon the journey to Chihota and made a u-turn to Harare Central Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Her medical history, however, revealed that she had hypertension problems which may have resulted in her death.
Liliosa was buried  In Mutero Village in Gutu on 31 December where obituary messages from a number of organisations, including the Better Schools Programme in The midlands Province, were well received by the mourners

Parents up in arms against school head

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Kennedy Murwira

Parents at Mutero High School in Gutu have called for the transfer of current school headmaster, Severino Shiri, alleging that he was running the school down and was involved in shady deals with suppliers.
Parents who talked to this reporter on condition of anonymity fearing that that their children will be victimised at school said it was apparent that the headmaster was lining his own pockets at the expense of developing the school. They cited a situation where one hardware shop at Gutu Mpandawana supplied the school with bakery products and confectionery, transported to the school by a public passenger carrying vehicle. The owner of the shop, Mr Dzinoreva, also won the tender to construct tow ten-roomed semi-detached  houses for four families at the school. However, Mr Dzinoreva sub-contracted the tender to an unknown contractor who receives payment for the locally recruited labour direct from the school. The same Dzinoreva sold a Brahman bull, at a cost of $2 000 the school when the mission celebrated its Golden Jubilee last year. The bull was presented  as a present to the Masvingo Catholic Diocese head, Bishop Michael Bhasera at the occasion, leading to speculation that the headmaster was attempting to silence the responsible authorities. The school ordinarily buys local livestock for the consumption of the student population which numbers more that 800. Mr Shiri is a member of the composer’s team in the diocese.
The parents complained that while the school already possessed a bus a bus levy had been introduced for a bus which the headmaster said had already been deposited for. They queries why a deposit was made before sufficient funds had been raised saying in 2010 a furniture levy was introduced.  The furniture that was bought had quickly broken down and they believe it was sub-standard.
Two years ago, an unknown company was contracted to  drill a borehole at the school to augment water supplies.  The borehole has since been vandalised while it never pumped even a liter of water into the school’s reservoir. The borehole, which is supposed to be run by a windmill, has since become derelict and a memento while it cost the school $12 000.
While he was presented with a set of written questions by this reporter Mr Shiri declined to comment only saying  tenders were awarded to the best bids. He, however, did not say what was involved in the tender procedure.Local

Gutu rural team promoted into Division 1

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Gutu rural team promoted into Division 1
Kennedy Murwira
Mutero Football Club from Gutu District has made history by becoming the first team with a completely rural background to qualify to play in the Eastern Region Division 1.
Bankrolled by prominent Harare lawyer Ostern Mutero, who plies his trade with Sawyer and Mkushi, the team draws its players from among the school leavers in the village from which it drives its name and its environs.
The team did not play very well in the first half of its only season in Division 2 but went on to become a force to reckon with after roping in players from the nearby Dewure High School. Dewure is a soccer powerhouse that is known nationally as they have participated in a number of national competitions, including the NASH Coca Cola tournament. They have a picked a number of silver pieces in the process.

The players recruited from Dewure changed the fortunes of the team which had suffered severe defeats at the hands of well seasoned teams like 4 Brigade based Lions Football Club.  The team woke up from its slumber and went on to win the promotion playoffs that were held in Hippo Valley.
Mutero promised that he would go out of his way to ensure that the team survived in Division One even if nit me4asnt dipping into his wallet to lure more seasoned into the team which currently retains the players who played last year.Sport

Mayor distances self from prepaid vehicle parking system

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Mayor distances self from prepaid vehicle parking system

ByItaiMuzondo

Masvingo City Mayor Hubert Fidze has distanced himself from the newly initiated prepaid parking system which started on this week saying he was never consulted over the issue raising suspicions that the decision could have been passed behind his back.
speaking to Tell Zimbabwe on Monday, Fidze said he was surprised by the development and he was not sure if his fellow councilors were aware of the move by his management.
 “To be honest, I am not aware of this development. The residents were supposed to be informed about this development so that they make necessary adjustments well in time. That was a blunder. The management erred on this one”, said  Fidze.

          I am not part of it … Hubert Fidze
Ward 10 councilor Lovemore Mufamba was equally surprised saying he was not aware of the development.
“I do not know about this at all, kutozvinzwirapano (I am getting it from here) but of cause we heard council was awaiting attorney general approval”, said Mufamba.
Acting Town Clerk, ZvapanoMunganasa was not available for comment over the unclear development as motorists have reportedly refused to pay for parking.Local
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