When the 2022 national population and household census was officially launched on April 20 symbolising the take-off of the programme that is in its concluding stages, there was a section of the population which was given preference on that Census night and were counted.
With this unpredictable and chilli weather of Masvingo in the fast approaching winter season, it would be proper to spare a thought for those people who are living on the streets of most if not all urban centres and growth points. The fact that they were considered part of this society by being incorporated into the Census programme might mean their welfare matters as well.
Responsible government authorities notably the Social Welfare Department and probably Health ministry should see to it that the welfare of these people is also taken note of and thus provide for them the necessary needs they deserve. The mental health institutions in the province and nation at large should consider housing some of these people society has tag-named ‘Vagrants’ and ensure they are placed at the place they deserve to be housed at.
There is need for the prioritisation even of their mental health through provision of much-needed medical supplies as well as shelter instead of letting them roam around the streets as some of them have developed violent tendencies that may end up harming society. Shelter would definitely protect them from these adverse weather conditions while at the same time being housed at mental health institutions would ensure their conditions are kept under check.
With all the information at hand after this Census exercise, hopefully the plight of these vulnerable people would be put into consideration and workable solutions put in place towards their welfare by the responsible authorities. The extreme weather conditions that have become a major feature on Masvingo calendar be it due to climate change effects or is it the presence of so many natural water bodies around, the people on the streets need to be considered and be placed in a comfort zone.
International conventions have seen several ratifications brought forward with such annual commemoration s like the World Habitat Day in October being one major highlight focusing on the vulnerable while in sport there have been major international tournaments like the World Cup for the homeless which show governments’ commitment towards such groups of people in given societies.
Also various other stakeholders including the church or even the business community not leaving behind Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) can also join the band wagon in trying to ensure this section of the society’s needs are catered for through provision of necessities that suit their various conditions and status.
COMMENT: Spare a thought for the homeless and vulnerable
AG red-flags Gweru council for selling stands to minors
Melinda Kusemachibi
The Auditor General Mildred Chiri red-flagged Gweru City Council for a host of misconduct and illicit dealings including the local authority allocating stands to minors contravening the Urban Councils Act.
According to the 2020 Auditor General’s report, Gweru was caught with a number of irregularities chief among them being sale of house stands to minor twins on the same day their father also purchased a stand from the local authority.
“Council allocated two stands to two minors aged 16 from the same family
on the same date their father was also allocated a stand under the Mkoba 21 Housing
Scheme.
“The minors had no contractual capacity according to the General Law AmendmentAct [Chapter 8:07], hence this was in contravention of this Act,” read the report.
In their defense, Gweru city council claimed that the agreements of sale were signed by parents on their behalf.
The local authority further revealed that it instructed its junior staff to desist from entering into contracted agreements with minors.
“The Director of Housing and Community services has acceded to the fact that the two
stands were sold to twins. However, the agreements of sale were signed for by the
parents on their behalf who are seniors and have contractual capacity according to the provisions of the Guardianship of Minors Act [Chapter 5.08] section 3.
Management has however instructed its junior staff to desist from entering into
contractual agreements with minors and familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Legal Age of Majority Act [Chapter 8.07] on signing of contracts or agreements,” GCC said in the report.
Contacted for comment Acting Town Clerk Vakai Chikwekwe could not shed light on the issue.
“Come with that Auditor General’s report of yours and show me where the issue is written because I do not know about that issue. I served council from 2016 and there was never such an issue,” said Chikwekwe.
He however contradicted himself after he said that some of the issues are in courts and thus could not shed more light on them.
“Some issues of this type maybe in courts and we cannot shed light on them,” he added.
Human-wildlife conflict in Manicaland-whose issue?
Melinda Kusemachibi
Conflict between people and animals is one of the main threats to the continued survival of many species in different parts of the world, which is also a significant threat to local communities, and if solutions to conflicts are not adequate, local support for conservation also declines.
Conflicts between wildlife and humans seem to be far from over in Chipinge district with many clashes being occasionally reported.
Over the past years, there have been reports of wildlife ‘trespassing’ into communities and causing havoc on people’s properties, crops and livelihoods.
Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC) is now the center of discussion in Chipinge district after a scare in Mt Selinda area following the alert of five Jumbos roaming around the area.
The elephants were seen by villagers moving towards Ngungunyani forest under Chief Mapungwana.
The jumbos are generally aggressive, the reason why Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) Rangers responded rapidly to the distress call and so far one of the giant animals has been killed.
The issue of elephants is a distress especially in Chipinge South alone in Chanyamukwakwa village where they killed two women and a child recently.
Chief Mapungwana born Anias Mapungwana said the elephants have become a serious issue in their area.
“Elephants have become a burden to us in our community. They are destroying our crops and we are appealing for help because the issue has reached another level,” said Mapungwana.
Most of these animals are said to be straying from Save Valley Conservancy while the stray animals get killed under Problem Animal Control (PAC) by a team from Zimparks stationed at Chipangayi, Chipinge Safari Area.
Fauna and Flora Zimbabwe (FaFlo Zim) director Fidelicy Nyamukondiwa said that that Human-Elephant conflict (HEC) results in the loss of precious life of humans.
“HEC results in the loss of precious lives of humans. Wildlife authorities often resort to shooting down elephants. We urge Zimparks to use non-lethal means in managing human-wildlife conflict. Zimparks and other conservation organizations should increase awareness and encourage communities to grow elephant repellent plants such as chilli and pepper. As soon as we get resources, we are going to help communities affected by HEC erect beehive fences as a way of bringing peace between human and elephants,” said Nyamukondiwa.
He added that HWC are a serious cause for concern in Zimbabwe.
“Human-wildlife conflicts and most particularly human-elephant conflicts are a serious cause for concern in Zimbabwe. The number of people trampled to death by elephants annually is disturbingly high.
“Resource competition between growing human populations and elephants is a major cause of human-elephant conflict. People end up encroaching into game reserves thereby increasing human-wildlife interactions,” he added.
He went on to say that vandalism of game reserve fences are major drivers of human-wildlife conflict and at most there is no compensation for the victims.
“Vandalism of game reserve perimeter fences by villagers and sometimes late responses to emergency situations by authorities also contribute to the rise in human-wildlife conflict fatalities.
“The gap in our wildlife legislation is that there is no room for compensation for human and wildlife victims or their families. We are still using a colonial pieces of legislation which is archaic and requires urgent amendment. Zimparks should be adequately funded so that they can immediately react to distress calls. Zimparks and other key stakeholders should do more awareness campaigns to educate people living in areas where human-wildlife conflicts are prevalent,” said Nyamukondiwa.
Zimparks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo said they continue to urge people to work hand in glove with the authority.
“Primarily because of the increase in number of wildlife population, human elephant conflict increases. We are encouraging people to work with Zimparks while at the same time they should also try not to walk during the night and we are also ensuring they at least know animal behavior when they encounter one. Extended process is needed but financial cost might limit it. We are planning to come up with a policy called Human Wildlife Policy,” said Farawo.
According to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), human-wildlife conflict is ‘any interaction between humans and wildlife that results in negative impacts on human, social, economic or cultural life, on the conservation of wildlife populations, or on the environment’.
Reasons that trigger the conflict include population expansion where people end up clearing new land for building homes and crop farming. Massive land clearance destroys land that might have been initially reserved for grazing or for animal habitat.
Also climate change has led the Valley of Chipinge experiencing severe droughts that leads to food shortages on the part of animals
For humans in Chipinge and other communities that surround wildlife reserves, the conflict seems to be permanent since wildlife authorities in Southern Africa have no clear policies on compensation for the people’s loss to wildlife attacks.
In another incident, a jumbo trampled to death of a 22-year-old woman and her six months old baby in Kushinga B village under Chief Musikavanhu in Chipinge on January 1, 2022.
Community radio licensing completed broadcasting system-ZACRAS
Tinaani Nyabereka
Gweru– The Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio Stations (ZACRAS) joined the nation and rest of the world in commemorating World Press Freedom Day and commended government efforts towards licensing of community radio stations.
The World Press Freedom celebrations are commemorated annually on May 3 as efforts to recognize the role and importance of the press in information dissemination across the globe.
In a statement ZACRAS national chairperson Tobias Saratiel said the licensing of the stations was in line with completing the drive of establishing a three tier broadcasting system.
“As ZACRAS, we take the opportunity to acknowledge and commend efforts made by the government of Zimbabwe to license 14 community radio stations in the country as part of the drive to complete the three tier broadcasting system.
“ZACRAS has over the years been advocating for the licensing of community radio stations, which have so far been licensed across the country’s ten provinces with the association working closely with government and other partners to ensure that all radio stations go on air. As part of its mandate, the association is rolling out a series of capacity building programmes that will see licensed community radio stations go on air before the end of the Broadcasting Services Act’s recommended 18 months period and providing the crucial, locally produced developmental news,” said Saratiel.
He further said community radios have played a significant role in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic through timely information dissemination.
“Community radio stations have played an important role during the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw some of the stations being part of the government’s Covid-19 provincial taskforces in the process of communicating accurate and relevant information.
“The licensing of community radios will go a long way in promoting access to information and participation by marginalized and under-represented communities in Zimbabwe. As the country continues to battle the Covid-19 pandemic, ZACRAS remains cognizant of the fact that there are communities which are not regularly accessing relevant information needed to make critical decisions. It remains ZACRAS’ conviction that the existence of community radios in Zimbabwe will greatly assist in local and timely dissemination of information on Covid-19 as has been witnessed in other countries such as India and Ethiopia among others,” he added.
Meanwhile ZACRAS has noted a number of recommendations to be adopted by government in promoting the rights of journalists.
“We thereby note the following recommendations to the government that we obtain full respect of the editorial and programming independence of community radio stations and the use the Community Broadcasting Fund in an equitable manner that will ensure community radio stations benefit.
“We also call for the promotion of foreign investment in broadcasting a situation that will improve the sustainability of community broadcasters,” read some of the recommendations by ZACRAS.
The 2022 World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) commemorations are running under the theme ‘Journalism Under Digital Siege.
Gokomere trio appear in court
Tendai Charumbira
Three Gokomere schools officials who were arrested last year on allegations of embezzling school funds appeared in court on April 10, 2022, after which it was postponed to May 13, 2022.
The three accused appeared before magistrate Farai Gwitima.
CPS head Mhangarai Celestino Masakadza (50), Gokomere High deputy head Cephas Vhurumuku and Priest in Charge John Magadzire (40) are being represented by Collen Maboke of Ruvengo and Maboke Legal practitioners who argued that Gokomere is run by Roman Catholic Church and is not a government school hence mismanagement of school funds should have been reported by the Roman Catholic Church.
He also argued that parents who were paying school fees made the report but not even one parent came to testify as there was no School Development Committee (SDC) because it was during Covid-19.
The State represented by Noel Mandebvu said the accused persons in May 2021 made payment transactions through ZB bank debt card with no payment vouchers, invoices or receipts amounting to ZW$1 4477 373 and an audit done in May 2021 showed massive corrupt dealings of unsupported receipts.
The audit also revealed that the school’s fourth account held by Standard Chartered bank in the name of John Magadzire received ZW$ 1 722 697 in levies but a total of ZW$ 1 456 062 was spent on non-school related transactions.
The accused persons allegedly did not elect a SDC thereby violating statutory instrument 87 of 1992 Section 8 (1) that requires the election of SDCs by parents at every Annual General Meeting (AGM).
The trio was dragged to court alongside Gokomere High School head Acquanos Mazhunga and Alex Mawaya sometime last year following Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC)’s intervention after parents with children at the learning institution approached them.
Chiredzi unites against drug abuse
Beatific Gumbwanda
CHIREDZI- Town Council vice chairperson and ward 3 councillor Ropafadzo Makumire who recently graduated from the Mandela-Washington Fellowship’s Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) recently united various stakeholders towards the fight to end drug abuse as he held a community Mental Health awareness programme at Chitsanga Hall.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care and Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) pledged to work together with the community towards eradicating ballooning drug abuse cases in Chiredzi,
Various stakeholders and community leadership last week converged at Chitsanga Hall to discuss solutions towards curbing the exponentially growing drug abuse in the sugarcane town, where the Ministry of Health said it is gradually being overwhelmed by the growing number of drug abuse cases while they are also urging all those addicts who need help to come forward.
Speaking during the engagement meeting at Chitsanga Hall, Chiredzi District Medical Officer Doctor Brian Dhlandhlara said the issue of drug abuse has become a pandemic such that government has developed a master plan to help mitigate the growing cases of drug abuse in our communities.
“Drug abuse have become a pandemic. Initially, budget towards drug abuse patients is limited to such an extent that we are now draining funds from other departments to help cater for drug abuse patients. More than 60% of admissions at the hospital are now being cases of drug abuse, which means the cases are growing rapidly.
“So the government developed a master plan to help in the reduction of drug abuse as well as the distribution. We are opening hands to all those who seek help and government has decriminalized those who want to receive medical care.
“The master plan includes the reduction of demand through decriminalizing those drug users who wish to seek help, educational awareness, supply reduction where we will work in tandem with the ZRP to cut the supply chain of drugs, training of mental health nurses as well as establishing halfway houses where psychologists will be availed to help people,” said Dr Dhlandhlara.
Chiredzi Residents and Ratepayers Association (CHIRRA) chairperson Jonathan Shonhiwa urged parents to take extra care of their children than letting maids take care of everything.
Shonhiwa also urged the police to work hand in glove with the community in order to curb the trade of drugs.
“Parents should take extra care of their children whenever they come back from school. Most parents no longer have that care children need from them which makes it easier for them to engage in illicit drug abuse. The police also should provide suggestion boxes where cases involving those dealing with drugs will be reported as some of the drug lords have a strong connection with the police,” said Shonhiwa.
United Chiredzi Residents and Ratepayers Association Advocate Officer Constance Chikumbo also urged council to develop fallen infrastructure for recreational facilities where youths can spend much of their time.
“The state of recreational facilities such as Chitsanga Hall, the Tennis Court and Tshovani Stadium needs a facelift in order support our future generations. These recreational facilities will help freshen up their minds,” said Chikumbo.
Drug and substance abuse has been rampant among the youthful generation.
10 613 register in second phase of registration blitz
Fredrick Moyo
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) second phase mobile voter registration blitz that commenced on April 11 2022 came to an end on April 30, with Masvingo province recording a total of 10 613 first time voters and 5 226 transfers.
ZEC Deputy Provincial Election Officer (PEO) Maxwell Ncube confirmed the development and encouraged people to come and register to vote as all offices in the district will be opened during normal working hours.
“We greatly appreciate those who came forward and registered in the second phase of the blitz and more registrants responded positively and the figures went up with more than 50 percent as compared to the first phase of the blitz.
“We are actually happy with the statistics and this might be attributed to intensive voter education that we were undertaking with the help of stakeholders, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and political parties. The coming of the Registrar General’s Office with the issuing of national Identity Documents (IDs) that we need in the voter registration process,” said Ncube.
He encouraged people to register in numbers as they will be preparing for delimitation as soon as the census statistics are released.
“Yes we have ended the outreach programme but the registration process is still going on at all our seven offices in the province and will still be operating during normal working hours, so people are encouraged to visit the offices and register to vote for the upcoming 2023 general elections. As soon as the census statistics are announced, we will start preparing for delimitation so people are encouraged to register in numbers as the delimitation process is all about numbers,” added Ncube.
My Age Zimbabwe Programmes Manager Joseph Njowa said they are actually happy with the increment in numbers and encouraged young people to register to vote as they constitute the largest chunk of population in the country and are the future generation.
“Young people constitute more than 60 percent of the population which makes them a key demographic that should continuously contribute to nation building and the development of their communities. Young people, as leaders of today and tomorrow, bear the civic responsibility of meaningfully contributing to sustainable development.
“Prioritising registering to vote is a critical step towards their social responsibility especially for the first time voters. We applaud the increase in numbers of individuals that have registered to vote and continue to urge youths to take responsibility by exercising their constitutional right to vote. For so long young people have been regarded as mourners and complainers who do not act. It is time we come out in our numbers to participate and contribute to nation building. It begins by registering to vote,” said Njowa.
Efforts to get a comment from Community Tolerance Reconciliation and Development (COTRAD) Programmes Officer Ishmael Kupfuwa were fruitless.
Of the 10 613 people who registered to vote in the just ended blitz, there were only 4 968 females and 5 645 males and from the 5 226 transfers 2 671 were male while 2 555 were female.
Inspiration Tennis Academy scoops 25 medals in national tournaments
Fredrick Moyo
Masvingo-based Inspiration Tennis Academy (ITA) scooped a total of 25 medals in the just ended Tennis nation tournaments that commenced on April 7 and ended on May 1 2022.
The tournaments where different age groups Under 12, 14 and 18 participated in were hosted in Bulawayo (Athletic club and Girls College), Harare (Harare Sports club and Old Hararians), Mutare (Hillcrest College and Mutare Girls High) and Kwekwe (Kwekwe Sports club).
Speaking to TellZim News ITA founder and head coach Privy Fanisai said she was really happy with the performance her academy exhibited at the tournaments.
“I am happy with the medals that we managed to collect and also with the performance we managed to put up at the tournament.
“These tournaments are important for our academy as the kids met different people from different places and have chances to be in the national team as they will be having exposure and also after participating at the national tournaments, they are given points that will also assist them in making it to the national team. So it is an opportunity for us as an academy for our players to showcase their talents,” said Fanisai.
She also thanked parents for the motivation and support they are giving their children as tennis is expensive to sponsor.
“I would like to thank parents for supporting their kids in this sport, as we all know that tennis is an expensive sport to sponsor but the parents are there sponsoring their kids with whatever they have and not forgetting my assistant Derrick Mukweva for travelling with the kids and also training them,” added Fanisai.
ITA won 12 gold, eight silver and five bronze medals for seven participants namely Christabel Mkwenje form Helen McGhee Primary, Ruvarashe Chinhiya and Keven Saravoye from Vic Junior, Morgan Mkwanilla and Tatenda Dehwe from Ndarama High school, Strive Bosha, Ruvarashe Chinhiya and also Lucia Sitemere.
JIN Yl speaks on employee drowning incident
…NSSA orders cooling tower to be barricaded for safety reasons
Tinaani Nyabereka
Gweru – The death of a Gweru man who was employed as a truck driver at Chinese owned JIN YI chrome smelting plant last week has raised eyebrows among residents who still have to come to terms with the demise of Chesia Mdala (39).
The company currently operating with a capacity of 740 workers is believed to be among one of the big chrome smelting and ferrochrome exporting plants in Midlands.
As family members continue to demand answers to what really transpired, Mdala is believed to have drowned in a cooling tower which contained hot water as he was fetching water to wash his truck last week Wednesday at around 2 pm.
Speaking to TellZim News during an interview, the deceased’s wife (name withheld for ethical reasons) said his husband’s body was found floating the next day, Thursday 28 April 2022 around 8 am.
The deceased was however buried the same day he was retrieved as his body was said to be in a decomposing state due to the hot water burns.
“What we only heard is that he took his truck to a pond to wash it around 2 pm. He then took a blue bucket with him and from there we only heard that he was found dead at the tower holding a bucket in his left hand.
“One thing I am failing to understand is their explanation that he drowned around 2 pm and someone came to take the truck and saw his phone but failed to take action. When someone disembarks the vehicle, they usually take with them the car keys and some valuables. We still want to know what really happened to my husband,” the deceased’s wife demanded.
Mdala’s mother, (name withheld) was short of words to describe the death of his son whom she had seen a few hours before the incident.
“I am not convinced by these people at all. My son passed by home around 2 pm in a jovial mood only or him to fail to return home. They are saying he wanted to wash his car but I am failing to understand.
“These people know what they did to my son, I am still failing to come to terms with his death despite the whole narration,” she said.
Meanwhile family members are still suspecting foul play on the incident.
JIN YI Enterprises incoming Administrator Tongesai Svidzi said the company had since rendered funeral assistance to the deceased’s family.
“The incident occurred while the old management was still in place. As for me and the incoming team, we are the new administration which is incoming and we await induction, so we also heard of the issue though it was already attended to by the outgoing management, so I will only answer what I know with regards to the matter.
“As a company, yes we reached the family and funeral assistance in form of cash amounting to US$ 2 500 was given. What happened is we suspect that Mdala might have slipped off the stoop while fetching water to wash the truck at the cooling tower. Mdala reported to work on the day the incident happened (that is Wednesday April 27, 2022). He was one of our drivers and had just secured his employment last month (March). So his duties were those to go and ferry gas cylinders and any other duties which would be assigned by the authorities,” said Svidzi.
He also confirmed that one of the deceased’s work colleagues is the one who went to check on him only to discover that he had passed on.
“So upon returning from his tasks around 2 pm, it is said he went to the cooling tower with the intention to wash his truck, so he went with his bucket but what then happened at the tower no one witnessed it. As time went by, one of his colleague drivers who had his truck as well checked on him. After seeing Mdala’s truck parked by the tower, he found the car keys and the deceased’s phone inside. So he just assumed the deceased had taken a walk and drove the truck and parked it at the parking bay .He then surrendered the keys and the cellphone to the guards so that they could hand over the phone to him when he returns.
“The following morning our manager received a call from the deceased’s wife saying she had not heard anything from her husband since the previous day. The manager (as he was on his way to work) said he would check on Mdala upon reaching the work station and on the other hand the deceased’s brother in law, Asani Mahlati had already reported that the now deceased was missing to the authorities.
“So an alarm was raised while searching, the now deceased was found floating in the cooling tower with his body swollen as it had slept in hot water all night. The police were informed and so were National Social Security Association (NSSA) and Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and they all came. They conducted investigations on the matter and Mdala’s relatives took the body,” Svidzi added.
He further said the tower had already been fenced following a directive from NSSA to barricade the pond for safety purposes.
“We were given an order to have the tower fenced for the safety of workers and this has been done .The area is now fenced and is a no go area. Before it was fenced, it was a no go area but workers still preferred to fetch water there since it is a central point. From investigations conducted, we greatly believe that the now deceased might have slipped into the pool coincidentally after stepping on the froth produced by the water as that froth is slippery if stepped on,” he added.
However, a police report could not be obtained on the matter by the time of writing this article.
ZCTU warns Chinese companies against breaching labour laws
Tinaani Nyabereka
Gweru- The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has called upon Chinese employers in the country to desist from breaching the labour laws of Zimbabwe through various forms of harassment and abuse at the work places.
Addressing scores of workers commemorating the Workers’ Day at Mkoba stadium in Gweru, ZCTU Deputy Secretary General Kudakwashe Munengiwa said there is need for employers to respect and adhere to the laws of the land ensuring fair labour practices.
“Let me also take this moment to warn the Chinese who are busy breaching our labour laws. You are going about crushing and beating workers in your work places. After that you demand that workers should not report acts of abuse and ill treatment. We condemn abuse against workers and we are coming for you soon, be warned,” said Munengiwa.
He also highlighted that about 70percent of the country’s population was now living in poverty before calling on government to consider US$ salaries.
“It is saddening to note that about 70percent of our population is now living in poverty, people are struggling. We want our salaries in US dollars. Why do you want to earn the dollar alone at the top and not together with your people? We want our wages in American dollar considering that the bond note is losing value daily. Let’s just dollarize for us to survive.
“If that demand is not met, we are going to meet in the streets soon and we will not tire until our demand as workers is met by the employer. By demanding US$, we are not fighting anyone but we are confronting the poverty people face daily. As leaders, spare us the Russia- Ukraine war blames, we don’t share any borders with them,” argued Munengiwa.
Mkoba Constituency Member of Parliament, Amos Chibaya said looking at this year’s theme of the workers day, the salaries tabled for workers were pathetic.
“In line with the theme, ‘restoration of workers dignity’, workers no longer have dignity. I was in Parliament speaking on the welfare of workers recently and even tasked the Ministers of Finance and Labour to have the wages of workers reviewed.
“Some of the Ministers were even shocked to hear that the minimum wage was below ZW $24 000. I told them to adjust wages to suit the Poverty Datum Line (PDL). It is just saddening to note that we have experienced a significant change as a family of six now requires ZW $92 000 to survive. As workers, let it be known that you are allowed to demonstrate as it is your constitutional right,” said Chibaya.
Women Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) Midlands Chapter representative Precious Mutumwa called for the recognition of the work done by women in the nation saying they are entitled to a better wage.
“Let’s also recognize the role being played by mothers not only in the work environment but even at home. Households stand strong today because women are working, looking after children, making sure that the family is fed.
“Please also remunerate us at our homes, we are workers, working for the family and nation as we are carrying the burden on our shoulders,” said Mutumwa.
Latest findings from Zimstats reveal that the Total Consumption Poverty Line (TCPL) for one person stood at $9 144 in February 2022 translating to $54 864 for a family of six.
However, the figure is way below that of the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) which pegged the cost of living at $72 000 for a family of six as at January 2022.