Tinaani Nyabereka

Gweru -President Emmerson Mnangagwa last week commissioned a state of the art National Pathology, Research and Diagnostic Centre at the Midlands State University, the first of its kind in Zimbabwe.
President Mnangagwa laid the foundation stone last year in November when he expressed the need to transform institutions of Higher and Tertiary Education into innovation hubs.
Speaking during the official opening of the facility last week Friday, President Mnangagwa said his government was moving with the development thrust to promote education 5.0 which is results based.
He added that this vision was there to improve the country’s health sector so that citizens do not look for health services abroad.
“In August 2017, l had a slight incident of poisoning and was airlifted to Gweru then eventually l was in South Africa.
“I then made a decision that similar medical facilities in South Africa should be in Zimbabwe as well. That’s when I saw the need and instructed MSU to come up with this state of the art medical facility.
“However my government will continue to create an enabling economic environment where business should thrive, that this is why l say Zimbabwe is open for business,” he said.
He further said that Zimbabwe is supposed to enhance its tourism through effective medical tourism and construction of state of the art facilities.
“Zimbabwe must become a medical tourism hub. I implore the private sector to complement government efforts by engaging in the development of state of art medical centres in tourist destinations.
“As our tourism grows we say, in areas such as Victoria falls where the elite come we need to have improved medical care because complains have been made that the area doesn’t have a proper medical centre, hence that becomes a constraint.
“My vision is for our country to provide better health services across the region as we have demonstrated here at the Midlands State University Medical Pathology and Diagnostic Centre,” he added.
Vice President who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Constantino Chiwenga said the country is battling a number of challenges within the health sector.
“If we don’t build our own facilities, no one will build them for us, I am happy that the President heard our cry as a country and today here we are, looking at the state of Art Pathology, Research and Diagnostic centre.
“Let me acknowledge that, our health sector is encountering a series of challenges and these cannot be solved over a single day.
“We can state things such as skilled professional and health staff, inadequate infrastructure and medications, all these need a dedicated front as demonstrated here, as we can achieve a lot.
“Our universities can go a long way and play the role of supporting government to address some of these challenges my ministry continues to support and appreciate the universities’ thrust of training medical and professional health staff.
“The New pathology centre will help reduce the challenges of critical infrastructure in the health sector and our aim is to reduce the financial drainage of medical tourism where by our citizens seek attention outside,” he said.
The Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Professor Amon Murwira said the construction of this new centre was in line with the new 5.0 education curriculum which promotes production of goods and services.

Tinaani Nyabereka

Gweru- Church leaders under the ‘Gweru Ministers Fraternity’ group on July 18, 2022 reached out to Jairos Jiri, Naran Centre in Gweru with an assortment of foodstuffs as part of the church’s effort to remember the under privileged groups in society.
The donations which were handed over to the school authorities included cases of sugar, washing soaps, salt, cooking oil, packs of soya chunks, sugar beans and packs of ladies sanitary wear, among other stuffs.
Highlighting the essence of donation, the fraternity gave a reflection of expressing brotherly love as revealed in the bible in the book of 1 John 4:20 which says ‘If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?’
Receiving the donation on behalf of the school, Jairos Jiri Association for the rehabilitation of the disabled and blind Naran Centre Head Ishmael Murowa thanked the religious leaders for the gesture and commended the important role which the church was playing in the upkeep of the vulnerable members of the community.
“I would like to thank you, the Gweru Minister’s Fraternity for the gesture you have shown us here at Naran school.
“As you know the economic hardships are affecting everyone and it only takes a willing heart to remember the less privileged. Indeed we have seen the hand of God through this donation and it is our humble prayer tomorrow you will call again.
“As you can see our school is for the deaf but as of now we are also accommodating the able-bodied who hear so that we help integrate our learners. We want them to be part of the society and to live with the society. So integrating them with others helps them to grow together and tolerate one another despite physical challenges any one of them might have.
“Just to appreciate the work being done at the centre, we house children from all over the ten provinces and our greatest challenge is that some come from very poor backgrounds. Sometimes it’s all about getting to understand the reality because we even have children who came as far as Gokwe. Sometimes the parents cannot even afford to bring the child to school or with proper warm clothing, books and blankets due to poverty. That is where you friends like the Gweru Minister’s Fraternity, donors, the community, individuals and any other well-wishers then come in to help bridge other gaps,” he said.
Currently Naran Centre is housing up to 219 children, with 119 children living with disability while 100 are able bodied, and all combined at primary and secondary education levels.
Gweru Minister’s Fraternity Vice Chairperson Pastor Alfred Hove of The Alliance Church in Zimbabwe said as leaders they were humbled by the decision to donate to children.
He added that the donations came out through a collective effort where by leaders saw the need to help children.
“We feel humbled by giving to our children. We thought of visiting Jairos Jiri Naran centre so that we could give that which we have as men and women of God. This was done as a way of giving and expressing love through actions rather than words only. We cannot love God whom we cannot see, if we can’t love our brother whom we see.
“So all the ministers of God’s word who are here and some who couldn’t make it, we saw it fit to come up with contributions from our own pockets. None of these goods were taken from any church rather we made our own contributions and we believe by doing so, we are leading by example so that the community follow the footsteps.
“We have come here and probably this won’t be our last visit, we will continue to check on our children and their welfare,” Hove said.
Meanwhile some of the Fraternity leaders who were part of the donations include Pastor Dr Artwell Chiangwa (Tabernacle Prayer Churches) who is the Secretary, Pastor Memory Longoni (Church of Christ) the Vice Secretary, Reverend Revai Chinodakufa (African Baptist Church) the Treasurer and three fraternal members namely Overseer Muzanenhamo Mapuranga (AFM of Zimbabwe), Apostle Addmore Ncube (Life Spring Church) and Reverend Dzikamai Tinarwo (Heartfelt ministries).

TellZim reporter

People with Disabilities (PWD) who are informal traders in Masvingo city have received a major boost towards their operations following revelations by City Council that their plight would be considered by ensuring provision of trading areas to cater for their special conditions.
Speaking to TellZim News recently, Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economies Association (ZCIEA) Masvingo territory president and national chairperson for People with Disabilities (PWDs) Tavengwa Mazhambe said they engaged council who promised to address their issues.
“We have faced quite a number of challenges as PWDs informal traders among them not being able to access the market stalls available as they are not user friendly to our conditions. We once raised the issues with the previous council management under Town Clerk Adolf Gusha, but they could not address out issues.
“Recently we approached current administration at Town House who promised to address our issues. When we approached council, the Town Clerk (Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa) advised us to put our issues in writing to the Chamber Secretary’s office and we are looking forward to a favourable solution to the challenges we face,” said Mazhambe.
He went on to say most informal traders with disabilities are preferring the Central Business District (CBD) to the Garikai markets as they feel they cannot compete with their able bodied counterparts.
“If you look at most of those informal traders plying in the CBD you would discover that they suffer from various forms of disability. It is not their wish or intention to leave established markets for CBD where they are vulnerable to law enforcement operations that lead to loss of wares, but they have no option.
“At the legal markets, some would not be able to access facilities while others who can’t talk or hear find it virtually difficult to sell their goods. For example some would engage in marketing their goods by shouting for customers, but would a person who cannot talk do in that case. That kind of stiff competition indirectly relegates them to the CBD where they are vulnerable to goods confiscation as well as other forms of harassment at hands of enforcement agents,” he added.
Mazhambe also bemoaned lack of collateral as the other major challenge informal traders with disabilities are facing in the aftermath of Covid-19 effects on businesses.
“Covid-19 also hit hard on traders in the informal sector. Like any section of the society, PWDs were spared neither. What now boggles our minds is lack of collateral security in case one wants to borrow funds to resuscitate his/her business.
“According to information we had in the recent past PWDs form 15 percent of the national population and of that total around 50 percent was affected by the pandemic. We however continue to call for the decriminalization of informal sector trading since unemployment is on the upward trend,” said Mazhambe.
Informal traders have often been involved in a series of running battles with law enforcement agents namely Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and municipal police where they suffer arrests and loss of goods in case of arrests.

Branton Matondo

Gweru– Zimbabwean children continue to be at an alarming risk of becoming obsessed and victimized by online sexual abuse as there has been a sharp rise in sexting and online grooming according to a recent field based study carried out by African Watch Trust (AWF).
The new millennium of digital communication has all of a sudden led to the rise of an unfortunate trend of Online Children Sexual Abuse (OCSA) that has chiefly been propelled by a rise in sexting and online grooming.
AWT Executive Director Clive Makumbe pointed out that urban domains where children easily have access to internet and the World Wide Web (www) are hotspots for this unfortunate trend.
He said Gweru, Harare and Bulawayo are major hotspots.
“80 out of 100 parents from Gweru, Harare, Masvingo, Bulawayo and Chinhoyi shared that children are involved in sexting to the extent that some children consider it normal. Sexting happens between children and their social media friends as well as with strangers met on the various social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram,” said Makumbe.
The watchdog warns of a great rise and risk of online grooming which are exploitative and affecting teens from as early as 12 and 13 years. The virtuality of social media sites and an influx of children on Twitter, Snapchat, WhatsApp and Facebook on a daily basis have caused continued manipulation of more and more teens.
“So sexual grooming is understood as the process by which an offender prepares a child for sexual abuse or exploitation and involves the organization and utilization of various opportunities aimed at gaining the trust of a child. Online grooming in Zimbabwe involves individuals but in some instances, it also involves organized groups that utilize social media platforms to groom children. The members communicate mostly online using social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Instagram and mostly share stories and photos of socialising, including sexual experiences,” added Makumbe.
An inquiry into the online sexual content traffic indicated that 30 out 250 children in Zimbabwe are currently watching pornographic material with an adult.
The domination of sex appeasing apparatus like sex toys has infiltrated the online domain with children becoming chief customers and users.
In an official report emanating from on-field studies from June to July, the trust highlighted that teens in Zimbabwe have become admirers and addicts of sex appeasing products as confirmed by a recent case study.
“One of the recent confirmed reports is that of a 13 year old child in Harare who bought sex toys via a WhatsApp platform. The minor was supplied with sex toys by a 23 year-old adult. Out of 250 children interviewed all reported of receiving sexual comments to posts on social media, and all had received requests to share more intimate photos and organise face-to-face meetings. Moreover, 176 out of 250 children noted that they are hesitating to confide in their parents because they doubt their level of technical sophistication or fear to lose access to their personal devices,” read the report.
Parental guidance on such cases of sexual manipulation and threats has proven difficult considering high technological illiteracy rates on the side of most parents.
An investigation carried out indicated that children consistently direct their spare time towards sexting and online grooming.
“80 out 100 parents said children access the Internet from their bedrooms and 60 per cent of children use smartphone devices. 40 out of 100 parents noted that online perpetrators are convincing children to share a compromising image and then threaten to send it to them or to upload it to a public website in order to extort more graphic content or in-person meeting,” added the report.
Postal Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) as mandated by statutes of the POTRAZ Chapter 12:05 enacted in 2001 has from 2020 worked closely with Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and Childline Zimbabwe in removing and barring sexually explicit content that is harmful to children but recent reports indicate a surge in cases which is a downside for civil protection units and private entities.
In response to the sky rocket of OCSA Makumbe called for the civil society world in conjunction with children and parents to work in unison to combat online children sexual abuse.
“Parents, guardians, child educators and civil society are a vital component in combating Online Child Sexual Abuse, including supporting children in understanding and handling online risks, the creation of a dedicated hotline for reporting with the need for active involvement of parents or guardians in children’s use of the Internet and other ICTs, supported by adequate access to information, is a key priority identified by such material. In particular, open and frequent dialogue about expectations and actions to take if children encounter something or someone troubling online, is commonly viewed as one of the key
steps towards the prevention of Online Child Sexual Abuse,” he said.
In addition to the aforementioned remedy AWT called for intervention of the private sector, assessment of technology services and the intensification of online campaigns.
“There is need to strengthen the technical capacity of key stakeholders, including government authorities and child rights CSOs, to better prevent and respond to OCSA. Partnering with the private sector to develop and implement industry-led commitments to combating OCSA in Zimbabwe and creation of Internet Hotline in Zimbabwe with dedicated analysts will go a worthwhile in fighting OCSA. Another pertinent recommendation is that of preparing and implementing training programmes and information campaigns to increase awareness of online/digital safety aimed at children, young people, parents, teachers and the public at large,” added Makumbe.

Tinaani Nyabereka

GWERU-Midlands Hotel has been temporarily closed by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) after a dead body of an unknown man was found in a dysfunctional vehicle parked in the hotel’s parking area.

Midlands Provincial Police Spokesperson Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko confirmed the development, saying investigations are already underway while operations at the hotel have been suspended.

“We can confirm that a dead body was found at the place mentioned,” said Inspector Mahoko.

The dead man is suspected to have been murdered during Killer T’s show last Friday at the hotel.

More details to follow.