By Brighton Chiseva

ZAKA – Nepotism which saw outspoken Senator and Zaka’s Chief Nhema born Rangarirai Bwawanda, together with Zaka South MP who is also Zanu PF District Coordinating Committee (DCC) chairperson for Zaka Clemence Chiduwa’s wives being elected into Zaka Rural District Council (RDC) as councilors under the women’s quota is now haunting fellow councilors.
The two councilors, Portia Gwese and Fungai Magadzire who are both wives to the powerful Zanu PF stalwarts in Zaka went on to be elected finance committee chairperson and Council Chairperson respectively, positions that come with a lot of influence on how the local authority operates.
However, local councilors are now operating like they are walking on eggshells as they are afraid to clash with the two councilors and offend their husbands who could retaliate in drastic measures considering the position Nhema and Chiduwa hold.
Recently, a WhatsApp group named Zaka RDC 2023 Cllrs had to be closed following a clash between Councilor Gwese and council vice chair Svinurai Dawn Chivore after the latter complained that he was verbally assaulted wrongfully by the chief on allegations that he had asked why his wife had attended a council human resources meeting.
TellZim News has leaked chats from the WhatsApp group where Chivore said he was hurt that he was verbally assaulted by the chief whereas he was not the one who had asked, meaning that the chief’s wife had reported the matter to her Senator husband.
Contacted for comment Chief Nhema refuted the allegations and said he only heard about it as a rumor but it was not true.
“That’s a lie, I never scolded anyone. I don’t know where that is coming from. I only heard it as rumors but that’s not true,” said Nhema.
Though Chivore could neither confirm nor deny when contacted for comment, he said he could not comment on such matters and said the matter was already at the provincial party office, advising the reporter to get a comment there.
However, in the group chat, Chivore said he was called outside during the meeting by the chief who went on to ask him who he was to question his wife’s presence in the meeting as if the allowances came from his pocket.
“There is an incident which happened in council today that didn’t go down well with me. We had an HR and Admin meeting. Whilst in the middle of the meeting, Mr Nyika came and told me that Chief Nhema wanted to see me outside. I went there and the Chief started to verbally assault me questioning why I had asked why his wife was present in the meeting. He then asked if the money she was going to get (allowances) was from my pocket or council’s. A lot was said and this happened in the presence of Finance Chair.
“What hurts me most is that I am not the one who raised the issue of why the Finance Chair (Nhema’s wife) was in the meeting. This issue was asked by a fellow councilor who is also a member of the HR & Admin committee. I was scolded for something I didn’t do,” Chivore wrote in the group chat.
He went on to say he had nothing against the chief who he said he respected a lot and said he had no power to stop people from sitting in any meeting which they do not belong to get allowances
“I have got great respect for him and nothing negative for him at all. However, it’s not fair to be scolded for things that are not factual. It didn’t sit well with me, I was not happy, minutes are there to prove. I don’t have the powers to deny people council money. Whoever wants to sit in any committee meeting, let it be even without any formal invitation, I am still mourning my father and wasn’t expecting this. It’s too early guys. Let’s not work with rumors for us to prosper, let us be factual,” said Chivore.
However, the council chair responded and explained that the finance chair was invited for the meeting so that she gets the side of the HR committee to make it easier for the finance committee to deliberate on the recommendations made.
“Evening councilors, professionally this issue should be discussed in the HR where it happened. I didn’t hear about it earlier, I am only getting it in this group (WhatsApp), I think all those who read it may fail to get answers.
“In our last meeting we recommended that we need finance to assist in working out salary arrears and also to deal with the allowances issues together with the Finance committee since Finance deals with the budget of all committees. If the minutes have been read, that recommendation is there.
“Sometimes it’s embarrassing to appear like you came for sadza when in actual sense you have come to work. Point of correction Chitova we don’t come to get money from council but to work for our district. I am sorry for the verbal assault but she didn’t come on her own, she was invited.
“Mr Baye was the acting HR and was supposed to defend the position because we still need her (finance chair) to work out the salary issues which we said were urgent and the letter was directed to me and I also directed the issue to the HR chair and Finance Chair. I am sorry Mrs Nhema for the embarrassment. Chitova (Chivore) I don’t know what the Chief said because you were outside, I can only comment on things that happens inside the council. If he had been in the chambers I would have commented,” said Maregedze.
Cllr Gwese (Nhema’s wife) responded saying next time if she was to be invited she would have to send the invitation to Chivore to authenticate it before she complied.
“Maybe next time if I am asked to come for a meeting l will first seek approval from you sir, if it’s a letter or even a call I will record it so that I send it to you to tell me if it’s formal or not since you are a lawyer you know better than us,” she said.
Another councilor intervened and said the chief was not supposed to get involved in council issues and should only be dealt with by councilors.
“But Chief Nhema should not rush to rebuke councilors as if he is a councilor, let council issues be solved by councilors,” wrote the councilor.
The matter went on to escalate in the WhatsApp platform until the council chair requested to be made the group administrator before closing the group to allow only administrators to post.
The matter was however reported to the Zanu PF provincial disciplinary committee and the committee chair who is also the Provincial Party Chairperson Vice Trust Mugabe said the matter was yet to be heard.
“We have the case but they are yet to come for hearing so there is nothing to comment as it stands, we can only comment after hearing the case and the person responsible for giving comments is the provincial chair Cde Mavhenyengwa (Robson),” said Mugabe.
Efforts to get a comment from Mavhenyengwa were futile as he was not taking calls and sent a text message saying he was in parliament.

By Decide Nhendo

A group of 66 people including elderly men and women have appeared before Masvingo Magistrate Court facing charges of settling within prohibited land at Zero Farm near Nemamwa Growth Point.
All 66 inhabitants who were staying at Zero Farm in Nemanwa under Chief Mugabe appeared before Masvingo Magistrate Farai Gwitima who remanded them out of custody waiting for judgement on February 13.
The victims complained that they had nowhere to go if evicted from their current residents, and do not have resources to start afresh.
“I am troubled because of the ongoing eviction issues, my blood pressure is always high and have never been settled since this operation started.
“I do not have any idea of where to go if we are removed from Zero farm,” said one victim
Another resident said he started to live at the farm from as early as 2000 it was now hard for them to leave their relative’s graves and also said they do not have resources if they are forced out of the farm.
“We started living in Zero during the land reform program in 2000s, and my deceased relatives are lying in their graves, even if they say we are to depart from Zero farm it is difficult for me because I do not have money or resources to construct another homestead,” said the resident.
Appearing in court Masvingo Provincial Lands Officer Takunda Chikura said this is the third time government is evicting illegal settlers from Nemanwa’s Zero Farm as the land belongs to the state.
“The land in question belongs to the state and the government has been evicting people from this land from 1970, the second time being in 1980, and now in 2024 where the government is contacting “Operation Order No to Land Barons” to bring sanity to communal lands,” Chikura said.
Government is toiling to stop land barons and people who are illegally selling or illegally settling living in communal lands around the country.
The victims are being accused of settling in wetlands, grazing lands among other areas, and more than 1000 people have been arrested in the province and more than 200 have been convicted.
Tarisai Muvengi prosecuted.

“It was the only home we ever knew.”

“There are no roots to go back to.”

“We did not know it was a crime.”

Theresa Takafuma/Courage Dutiro

For a few days, Netsai Muremo lingers around her five-bedroomed house in Mushandike Resettlement Area Village 15, hoping that by some stroke of miracle, she may be told she does not have to demolish her home; it was just a terrible dream.

The events of the past few weeks have left her shaken to the core, and this time there is no comfort in numbers because her neighbours are suffering the same fate as they are at an advanced stage of demolishing their own houses, the only place they have called home for nearly 22 years.

“On the night of January 18, together with tens of fellow villagers, we all slept in police cells after being arrested in numbers for a crime we did not even know we were committing for over two decades, and had to pay US$10 each bail to be released,” Muremo says.

Sadly, ignorance of a law is not an excuse, nor can it be used in defence, so she and approximately 13 000 other people across Masvingo Province have to pay the hefty price of not knowing the Zimbabwe Land Commission Act (Chapter 20:29) and the Gazetted Lands (Consequential Provisions) Act (Chapter 20:28) which prohibits occupation of state land without lawful authority in the form of a permit, an offer letter or a lease.

“We were summoned by the usual village bell, and as we have always done, we quickly responded, not knowing that we were handing ourselves to a dark, unforgettable period of our lives.

“We got to the meeting point only to be met by armed police who later bundled us in their big truck, telling us that we had been arrested for being illegal settlers. There was no negotiation,” Muremo’s neighbour Respina Matiti chips in.

Matiti claims that since 2002 when they were allocated the land to build on by their village head, they had been paying all the required rates, including taxes to council every month without fail, in the process receiving food aid and presidential inputs just like any other villager in the area.

Little did they know that they had been committing a crime for over two decades and it was time for reckoning; they had to face the full wrath of the law.

Over the years, they put their sweat, blood and tears into developing these homes that never were, breeding livestock, drilling boreholes, erecting water tanks and security fences around those homes but now nothing is left to show for it except rubble.

Just like any other farming season, this was no different as they had planted crops hoping to harvest in due time, even to sell some of the produce to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) as they have always done over the years—all those unripe crops have now become feed for livestock belonging to those who will remain in the area.

The majority of them however are at their wits’ end as to what they will do with their own livestock, with the only viable option being selling it at paltry prices for them to raise a few dollars to sustain themselves until they find other means of survival.

Cattle, goats, chicken and other livestock are being sold for almost half their normal prices due to the desperation of wanting to raise rentals for back rooms at Bhuka Shopping Centre and surrounding areas, with the rentals almost doubled since the beginning of the operation as owners try to cash in from the dire situation.

Chipo Kufakowenyu’s situation, though equally heart-breaking, is different as she and her husband had to abandon a piggery project they had invested in for a few years after they were allocated land by Village Head Konde five years ago.

“We had to leave everything, including a litter of piglets we were hoping were going to change our fortunes. My school-going child now has to commute every day from Masvingo town to Mushandike to attend classes, which I am not sure I will be able to sustain for a long time,” Kufakowenyu said.

Her child is not the only one whose schooling has been affected by the operation; there are tens of others in the area who are no longer going to school for fear of coming back home to find their parents already gone without a trace.

“Our children are traumatized. They do not even understand what is happening and they are asking where exactly we are supposed to go because they were born and raised here. It is the only home they know.

“All we ask for is enough time to pack our belongings without the fear of these ultimatums because in seven days, what would I have done in terms of relocation?” Matiti queries.

Reverend Albert Toperesu of the adjacent Village 21 in the same area seems to agree that it is invaluable to give these people time to properly pack their belongings, adding that government should consider giving them alternative accommodation until they find their footing, failure to which may cause further harm in the community.

“We cannot solve disorder by causing another disorder because these people who have been displaced will linger around, even committing other crimes and exacerbating social ills including prostitution and rape. I suggest that since they had been settling illegally, government should now properly resettle them to arrest this mayhem.

“There are also those whose parents settled here in the late 1980s whose children have now grown. I think government should be lenient with them and properly allocate land specifically for them because they have been caught in the crossfire of village heads’ greed of selling and illegally parcelling out land,” Toperesu said.

The question they keep asking however is why they were allowed to build for over 20 years without any consequences until now, and why the local authority was accepting their rates if they were committing a crime.

That question remains unanswered, while one thing is apparent; they have to leave and they have to leave now without compensation, regardless of some of them not being honest enough to mention that the village heads sold them the land.

On social media, chat groups had become awash with bogus real estate salespeople advertising these ‘sabhuku deals’ where pieces of land were being sold for relatively little amounts, which had become a menace as some settled in catchment areas, wetlands and grazing land.

Masvingo police have confirmed that to date, 1898 arrests have been made in the province, while 199 convictions have been made in court, numbers which keep growing by the day.

Permanent Secretary for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Dr Addmore Pazvakavambwa said those who felt were wrongfully arrested were being given room to explain their circumstances in court.

“If there are people who were wrongfully arrested, (like those who claim to have been given land by their parents in resettlements) they have the room to explain that in court, which will then decide their fate.

“They may approach their respective local authorities as well as the Ministry of Lands to acquire proper documentation and to clarify their circumstances,” Dr Pazvakavambwa said.

There are also those across the province, especially in Gutu district who are saying that the land they are being evicted from is their ancestral land, and they have nowhere else to go.

In a statement released on February 10, 2024 human rights organisation ZimRights condemned the evictions, arguing that they are arbitrary as there has been no proper prior consultation with the affected, hence detrimental to them.

“ZimRights is outraged at these developments that are causing a wholesale violation of human rights in the pretext of implementing the law. ZimRights calls on the Government of Zimbabwe to immediately halt these evictions. The law must protect not destroy livelihoods.

“Section 28 of the Constitution obliges the state to ensure that everyone has access to adequate shelter. Section 74 further provides protection against arbitrary eviction of people from their homes. An eviction is arbitrary where there is no proper consultation of the affected people, where there is no free consent, where there is no alternative land for them to settle on, there has been no impact assessment and no plan or resources for compensation of the affected people,” reads part of the statement.

Property worth thousands, if not millions of dollars has already been lost, and no matter what happens now, the loss is almost irreparable—the biggest losers in the whole trajectory being those who were oblivious of the fact that the law will always prevail regardless of how long it will take.

In almost similar style, in 2005, over 700 000 people were displaced from their homes in a government operation dubbed Operation Murambatsvina, and there will likely be victims of both operations at the end of the current one.

By Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI-Former Chiredzi East Member of Parliament, Denford Masiya is on collision course with Chiredzi Rural District Council, which he has taken to court over a prohibition order to a piece of land.
Masiya seems to have been buried by his kinsman, Chief Tshovani (Edmore Mundau) who is allegedly supporting his eviction by Chiredzi Rural District Council (CRDC) from the land he ‘illegally’ allocated himself along Save River under Masekesa Village, Ward 4 though he is arguing that he got the land through a corporate entity, Mudyaxihi (Pvt) Ltd where he is one of the directors.
Masiya has since taken Chiredzi Rural District Council (CRDC) to court following a prohibition order issued on him on November 29, 2023, ordering him to immediately stop forthwith any developments, construction works, occupation or any use of the land.
“Prohibition order issued in terms of section 34 of the regional, town and country planning act (Chapter 29:12) following illegal developments taking place at Sangwe communal lands-piece of land along Save River under village Head Masekesa.
“Now therefore take note that in terms of Section 34 you are hereby ordered to immediately take the following steps. To discontinue forthwith any developments, construction works, occupation or any use of the said piece of land,” reads part of the prohibition order.
However, Masiya through his lawyers from Kwirira and Magwaliba Legal Practitioners argued that he did not allocate himself any piece of land but was allocated to his organisation Mudyaxihi (Pvt) Ltd by Chief Tshovani.
“We are advised that our client did not allocate a piece of land to himself. Infact, a piece of land was allocated to a corporate entity by the name Mudyaxihi (Pvt) Ltd wherein he is one of the directors. It is therefore misleading to address the issue to our client direct to him in his personal capacity.
“Secondly, it is also misleading to allege that he allocated the land in question to himself , rather the land was allocated to the said corporate by Chief Tshovani in terms of an extant legislative process,” reads part of the letter.
In Chief Executive Officer Ailes Baloyi’s founding affidavit however, Chief Tshovani was in support of Masiya’s eviction citing that he had personally allocated himself the said piece of land.
“This is vehemently disputed in that respondent is not aware of the dispute in question and the referral thereof to Chief Tshovani. Nothing has been annexed to shed more light to the alleged dispute that applicant referred to Chief Tshovani. Applicant ought to have done more than making bald averments.
“The court is urged to take the view that respondent acted correctly since even Chief Tshovani agreed that applicant illegally allocated himself the land in question. The resolution passed by the respondents is for the eviction of applicant on the land he illegally allocated to himself along Save River under Masekesa village.
“If Chief Tshovani had indeed allocated the land in question when the alleged dispute was brought before him then he would have objected to the passing of the resolution. Chief Tshovani did not object. The Chief Tshovani in question sat at the meeting and did not object to the resolution for the eviction of applicant but supported it. Chief Tshovani never made reference to the dispute, the summons and hearing that applicant is referring to.” Reads part of Baloyi’s founding affidavit.
CRDC made a resolution during the second full council meeting on the December 20, 2023, where Chief Tshovani was in attendance that they recommend the eviction of Masiya from the said piece of land.