…community implores government to chip in

Fredrick Moyo

People in communities around Chikarudzo area of Masvingo Central constituency have bemoaned poor infrastructure with bad roads hampering transporters from offering services to the areas, prompting people to walk long distances to access health services while learners face the same predicament to access education.
Speaking at the Padare naMambo Mugabe engagement meeting organized by TellZim News in partnership with ZIMCODD on April 29, 2022 women and various village heads engaged traditional leader Chief Mugabe born Matubede Mudavanhu on the challenges they are facing in their communities which need urgent attention.
A number of people who attended the meeting said they were facing transport challenges as the roads and bridges are in bad state.
“The rains really damaged the roads that people used to travel on especially school children and even cars are failing to reach their intended destinations because of the bad state the roads are in.
“We also have poor bridges in the area, cars are not reaching their destinations and it is also affecting us to reach to the clinics especially during the evening when someone gets sick as people say that the roads are bad and they cannot assist us. Even if a pregnant woman gets sick for example, she is likely to give birth on the road to the nearest health centre as getting transport to the facility won’t be possible because of these damaged roads,” said one elderly woman.

School children also face the burden of travelling for 20 km to and from school on a daily basis which directly has a bearing on their studies.
“Without the assistance, it is really difficult for school children to go to school, some pupils are walking for more than 20 km a day and this is also affecting their performance as they get to school tired and as parents we cannot expect better results from our kids after travelling long distances,” said another participant.
The other participant also added that local resources are being looted as the community is not in a position to reap benefits hence the need for government to chip in.
“We have a lot of wild fruits in here but we are not benefiting from them as people travel as far as Bulawayo in search of those fruits and the community is benefiting nothing from that.
“It would have been ideal for government to come to our rescue like they did to the people of Mwenezi where they established a Marula processing plant by offering us similar projects so that we directly benefit from our resources at the expense of people from afar,” he added.
Poor road networks, access to health facilities, water supply among other essentials have haunted most communities despite the principle of devolution being touted as improving livelihoods in most communities.

Tinaani Nyabereka

Gweru- The Zimbabwe Heads of Christians Denominations (ZHCOD) last week engaged government departments on devolution processes as part of efforts to ensure the establishment of a developmental framework towards uplifting communities in the province.

The engagement was held under the theme ‘Strengthening the role of the church in promoting social cohesion and civic participation within the devolution processes’.

However the concept of devolution seeks to decentralize resources to provinces in order to stimulate development in areas which are lagging behind.

Speaking during the engagement Midlands Assistant District Development Coordinator Tarisai Mudadigwa said it was crucial for the church to be actively involved in governance issues.

“There is need for the church to be actively involved in governance issues by participating in all engagements, just as we are doing today here. Churches leaders you have an influential role to play in stimulating community involvement in developmental initiatives.

“Devolution starts at ward level that is budget consultations ward committee meetings because your voices matters. If a meeting is called in your ward attend, don’t say it is political or partisan, attend it,” said Mudadigwa.

He further encouraged the church to harness developmental initiatives to bridge poverty gaps.

“The impact of devolution is felt in areas which are lagging behind. In areas where devolution is being implemented, changes have been noticed. We now have roads, schools, water facilities among other infrastructure.

“If you don’t harness developmental opportunities, you won’t see the impact devolution has, if we develop an attitude things won’t move. Let’s embrace what is at hand, put it to test and assess results,” he added.

Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs representative who is also the Member of Parliament for Gweru Urban Brian Dube said the country was still facing same problems due to failure by office bearers to implement policies.

“42 years after Independence and people are still complaining, well it simply shows that those in power are not willing to implement the policies needed for development to take course.

“The principle of devolution is centred on channelling resources into the provinces so that such areas are able to develop. As long as local resources are not utilised, the principle of devolution will take time to produce results. It is the responsibility of everyone to make a follow up on issues of devolution, everyone has a right and responsibility to monitor the use of devolution funds. It’s funny to note that in Zimbabwe we have people who love their parties more than their country to the extent that they don’t take national matters seriously,” Dube said.

However he added that there were contradictions in the national constitution regarding the functions of provincial councils.

“There is contradiction on the issue of our provincial council as highlighted in section 265 of the constitution of Zimbabwe. Those seating in the provincial council as your MPs are supposed to go and seat in Parliament representing their provinces. So it was noticed that contradiction is there, sometimes the dates of provincial councils may clash which then contradicts with those of Parliament.

“The same office bearers would then be required to seat in the two councils and this requires allowances. So there is need for that section to be rectified because we did not see that error when we crafted our constitution. One thing the church must understand on the principle of devolution is that, devolution started in 1980 soon after independence. Devolution is not a new thing in Zimbabwe and it is there to stay,” he added.

Ministry of Mines provincial deputy director Takudzwa Muzopa said as a Ministry their doors were open for the church.

“Our doors are open and we want to work with the church in the mining sector. If you want to own a mine claim, we are here to assist you with all the necessary registrations. On the mines in Shurugwi, I heard someone asking about the issue of the road at Boterekwa, we attended to the issue and the mines there have title deeds. What we then did was to remove those who were now mining towards the roads in order to minimize infrastructure damages.

“As a ministry, we are closely monitoring all mining activities in the province and working with other organizations such as Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and Mines Minerals Cooperation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) among other players,” he said.

The principle of devolution has been described as a noble idea towards national development, though the manner in which it is implemented leaves a lot to be desired as communities are usually left out in decision making on matters that affect them and thus no consultations are done.

Emmanuel Chitsika

A number of roads being constructed or renovated under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP) embarked on by the government of Zimbabwe in a bid to improve the road network around the country have been deteriorating soon after completion, pointing to poor workmanship.
Some of the contractors who are doing the work have become notorious for producing these poor roads, but continue getting contracts in different parts of the country, bringing to question how the monitoring of the programme is being done.
The ERRP has seen billions of dollars being poured into the programme, and has been one of the Second Dispensation’s biggest points of implementation after President Emmerson Mnangagwa condemed most roads in the country at the beginning of the programme.
Recently, Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) revealed that it was going to disburse $17 billion under the second phase of the programme, after having already disbursed $5,8 billion to road authorities across Zimbabwe in the first phase.
Last year Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona told Senate that a monitoring and evaluation approach had been adopted by government to ensure quality delivery of projects.
In Chiredzi there are reports that Fossil Contracting was directed to re-do Lion Drive road after it developed potholes barely less than two weeks after opening to traffic.
Chiredzi District Development Coordinator (DDC) Lovemore Chisema said in as much as they are concerned with the poor road surfaces they have seen in the Lowveld town, they are yet to assess the work before coming up with a detailed overall report.
“I am equally concerned with the quality of some of the roads because generally when one looks at the surface, you would see that the quality is below standard so we are going to do some checks on the roads. I am yet to carry out that exercise of assessing the roads; I haven’t been around as I was part of the Population and Household Census programme. I once called the contractors three days ago for some other engagement but we are yet to go on a tour of the roads they have done where we expect them to brief us on their work,” said Chisema.

Masvingo Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Dr Jefta Sakupwanya however said inadequate capacity to supervise the contracted companies might have led to such poor quality road surfaces, saying government was going to descend on work contractors responsible for shoddy work and blacklist them.
“As government, we do not allow or tolerate poor work at all. We are saying those contractors who are found wanting in terms of poor workmanship should be blacklisted and never allowed to get other tenders of work in the future.
“Currently the immediate intervention we have sought is to train road authorities on how to ensure strict supervision of contractors and of course working with Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA), we have got a team at provincial level which is moving around trying to ensure quality assurance on the roads because after completion, these roads should last between 15 and 25 years to avoid a scenario in which government would waste resources channelled towards such initiatives,” said Dr Sakupwanya.
He went on to say that there could be some contractors who are responsible for poor workmanship, with most doing well.
“Apa paita zai rimwe rakaora muBasket rakazara mazai akanaka chose (It is a matter of one rotten egg in a basket full of good eggs). What I can say is that there is need to enhance and improve the capacity of contractors of these road authorities to manage and supervise contractors. There was that inadequate capacity to monitoring and supervision of contractors which could have led to the compromise in terms of the quality of roads,” he added.
In Masvingo urban in Rujeko suburb, Ingwe Drive is one such example of poorly done work as the road developed cracks before the road markings that were recently done.
Some local authorities have been blamed for shoddy resurfacing after they only put gravel in some roads, which was then washed away by rains.
In Masvingo again, the Chimusana Bridge which was confirmed to have been incorporated into the ERRP due to failure by Masvingo City Council to rehabilitate it has been a ‘white elephant’ project as anything meaningful is yet to be implemented.

Melinda Kusemachibi

Masvingo Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Dr Jefta Sakupwanya said his office would intervene in Bikita vehicle purchase ‘scam’ in a bid to ensure that sanity prevails over the matter.
Dr Sakupwanya acknowledged receiving a messenger from Bikita with the petition and promised his office would look into the matter.
“Yes l know the issue and a messenger was sent from Bikita to my office. We are going to investigate and look into what happened on the resolution by Bikita Rural District Council (RDC) to use council money purchasing seven vehicles and privatizing them,” said Dr Sakupwanya.
Bikita District Development Coordinator (DDC) Bernard Hadzirabwi said that he knows about the issue as he was called from the higher offices though physically the petition never reached his office.
“Yes l am aware of the issue because the offices of Ministry of Local Government called me telling me about it. I did not receive the petition but it was copied to the office of Minister of State and also to the office of Masvingo Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution,” said Hadzirabwi.
He said that he could not comment on the issue as it is now at the office of the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.
“I cannot comment on the issue as it is already at the office of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister July Moyo, he is the one to comment on the issue,” he added.
Sources at the RDC offices however said Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) recently deployed a team of four officials to interview some employees at the local authority though ZACC spokesperson, Commissioner John Makamure denied that.
“Yes it is true that on Wednesday (May 4) some four officials from ZACC came to Bikita RDC offices and had some interviews with some of the local authority’s employees concerning the purchase of such vehicles,” the source said.
Makamure said that they never deployed officials at RDC to investigate the matter.
“We are going to compile and check what happened but we did not send our team to Bikita and investigate the issue. If we want to do investigations, we do that to both urban and rural councils and Bikita is one of them,” Makamure said.
Bikita Residents and Ratepayers Association (BIRRA) acting secretary Mark Mutengani however said he heard through the grape vine that ZACC descended on the RDC last week and that some officials from the local government ministry were set to visit on May 6 though the position was not officially communicated to them.
“Yes, I just heard that sometime this week on Wednesday (May 4), some officials from ZACC came for investigations with some circles reportedly saying officials from the parent ministry are around to carry out the investigations (on May 6) though I am yet to clarify on the actual situation obtaining,” said Mutengani.
BIRRA drafted a petition letter seeking redress and clarity over the move by the local authority which stands accused of going on a purchasing vehicle spree for top official.
The RDC purchased seven GD6 Toyota Hilux vehicles for Head of Departments before fixing yellow registration plates instead of the official black and white, a move that provoked residents alleging privatization of such properties.

…accuse school authorities of negligence

Melinda Kusemachibi

Parents of over 30 pupils at Victoria High School are crying foul over failure by the school authorities to notify them on the expulsion of their children as the school failed to communicate with them after expelling the pupils last term.

They said they were surprised to learn about the incident on opening day (May 3) this term when their children were denied access into school premises after most had already paid school fees as well as buying food.

The expelled learners were reportedly forced to sleep in the fields for two nights as punishment for sneaking out to attend a racing event.

A parent who spoke to TellZim News said their children were expelled from the school without first notifying them.

“The school expelled our children from the school but to my surprise I did not receive any letter from the school indicating that the children had been expelled from the school. They even allowed them to board the school bus in Harare on opening day only to realize they had been expelled from the school.

“When there is a problem at the school or even when my child is sick, they would communicate or even call us but on this issue they did not call. To my surprise, the school head told me that he could not find our phone numbers,” said the parent.

The parent also went on to say that the school even let them pay school fees despite the fact that their learners were expelled and when they inquired with the school, they were offered a transfer letter which indicated that it was at the parent’s request.

“They even allowed us to pay the school fees which the school head has told us that they will refund us,” added the parent.

However, Victoria High Head Engelbert Chimbwari dismissed the allegations and said that no pupil was expelled from the school.

“There are no pupils that were expelled from the school. It was just a displinary process,” said Chimbwari.

Asked to shed light on the issue of pupils having been served with transfer letters, Chimbwari professed ignorance on the matter.

Contacted for comment on the issue Acting Provincial Education Director (PED) Shylet Mhike said that the matter had not yet been reported at her office.

“The matter is yet to be reported at my office but if the school had expelled the children because of different reasons which might be linked to stubbornness then the school has the right to expel such pupils,” said Mhike.

Human rights lawyer Martin Mureri said considering the rights of the pupils, what the school did was not right as they were supposed to call and inform their parents first.

“They should have notified their parents first and hear what was the story behind, then if  disciplinary proceedings were supposed to be done, then they should have done that than just expelling pupils without hearing what the story was about,” said Mureri.

It is reported that the pupils are yet to attend lessons or even allowed to sleep in the hostels after being punished for sneaking out of school to attend a motor bike racing event last term.