Tinaani Nyabereka

Gweru– Vendors Initiative for Socio Economic Transformation (VISET) last week engaged office bearers and civic society organisations on the Private Voluntary Organisations Bill.
The Bill which was drafted last year is set to tighten screws on the operations of Civic Society Organisations (CSOs) on assumption that non-governmental organisations are working on the basis of financing terrorism and spearheading regime change.
Addressing various stakeholders during an engagement meeting with office bearers in Gweru last week, Viset Director Sam Wadzai said there was need to ensure that Members of Parliament (MPs) and CSOs understand how the PVO bill was structured and how CSOs operate.
He added that the bill was huge considering how CSOs were going to be negatively affected with this proposed amendment.
“We want to appreciate that government wants to govern the operations of CSOs through the PVO bill and we all recall that public consultations were done. After that process, we then realised the need for us to engage our MPs to understand what the bill holds for us.
“The CSO bill is proposing changes on the economic and developmental aspects of the country. We feel that we need to help our MPs to understand the bill so that when they debate it, they are well vested because CSOs are always there to work with government,” said Wadzai.
Unpacking the bill, Viset Information and Publicity officer, Jabulani Chikomwe said government was raising assumptions on how some civic society groups were engaging in politics.
“As I elaborate on this bill, government seeks to control and have a direct regulation on the operations of CSOs as other civic players are believed to be venturing into partisan politics. What government should understand is that there is a broad perspective where many interventions are being taken by CSOs to complement government efforts, we can even go back to issues of cyclone Idai, hunger, cases of abuse in rural communities, Covid-19, and humanitarian among other issues.
“So in as much as the bill seeks to give the minister ultimate power, we feel that such regulations may cripple the operations of CSOs because they get funding from various developmental partners. Besides that, the bill will affect the wellbeing of women and people with disabilities who are constantly getting aid from the donor community,” he said.
Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association director, Conerlia Selipiwe said there was need to foster compliance on issues to do with money laundering as the laws were already there.
“We have laws which govern and curb issues to do with money laundering and feel such laws must be put into practice and be implemented to deal with illicit and financial terrorism rather than having the whole PVO bill to regulate that aspect
“The documentation of CSOs was done properly and the paper work can be found at the Deeds office. We are also complying when it comes to all the paperwork which government may require, are working well with government using the current PVO Act, hence we do not see the need for the bill,” he added.
National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO), Midlands Coordinator Titus Mangoma said the coming in of the bill was already going against a number of constitutional rights.

…MURRA warns of impending action against council

Valentine Makufa

The water situation in Masvingo urban continues to be dire, as most areas are having dry taps, with those receiving it complaining that it is coming out with a brownish color.
A number of suburbs have been struggling to access water and have resorted to queuing at a few available boreholes.
Council were said to be in the process of repairing some pipes at Bushmead water works when taps went dry.
However when supplies resumed in some areas like Rujeko, Runyararo West and KMP, the water from the taps is dirty with a brownish color.
Contacted for comment on the water situation currently obtaining in the city, Town Clerk Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa denied the presence of dirty water running from taps saying samples supplied to him show that the water is clean.
“Where exactly did you get that information? There is no dirty water coming out of taps because we have been sending people to different locations to get samples every morning since Monday and there is no such crisis,” he said.
However people started getting dirty water after resumption of water supplies.
Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Association (MURRA) spokesperson Godfrey Mtimba said as a residents association they are not happy with the water situation in the city.
“As the biggest residents’ representative institution, we are actually appalled by the bad water situation in the city with regards to the quality and accessibility. We have endured almost a month receiving dirty water in our taps, the water is brownish and we fear for our health.
“We engaged the city fathers sometime back and they responded and promised to address the issue through a notice saying that their underground pipes had burst and even had a timeline of completing the exercise, but up to now we are still receiving dirty water so we no longer understand whether they are still doing maintenance work up to now, some areas are still not receiving water following the same challenge and they are relying on borehole water,” said Mtimba.
He also warned city council that MURRA will take unspecified action if they continuously fail to address the water challenge in the next seven days.
“As such we call upon council to address the water quality challenge as soon as possible as well as its provision. We want to warn council that if they fail to address this challenge over the next seven days, we will take action,” he added.
Masvingo Residents Forum (MRF) chairperson Brighton Ramusi said council has failed to put its residents first, rather they are spending money on unnecessary luxurious things.
“Water is a basic human right. Council has failed to prioritize water provision. Instead, council has prioritized the purchase of luxurious cars at the expense of the ratepayers. Water is overflowing at Lake Mutirikwi. There is no reasonable excuse not to provide clean water. It is unfortunate that council management has not been responsive to our demands,” said Ramusi.
Masvingo Service Delivery Residents and Ratepayers Association (MASDRRA) Secretary General Moses Mavhusa said council health officials should guarantee safe water and should also be answerable to the cases of dry taps.
“We are greatly concerned with the tap water being received in our city which possess an unfamiliar brownish color. We want health officials to guarantee our safety as residents. There are areas which are not receiving water and council must be answerable. How can we talk of an upper middle class economy by year 2030 if the services are so backward?” said Mavhusa.
Last year Masvingo council relieved former Engineer Tawanda Gozo alleging that he was incompetent in the water department as the local authority faced challenges in delivering clean water to residents.
The City Fathers were previously accused of pumping half-treated water sometime in February 2021 risking the health of residents.

Tinaani Nyabereka

GWERU -City Council officials were on Tuesday grilled by residents over their failure to address key service delivery issues and lack of transparency in tender processes.
This came out during a tour by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Public Works and National Housing led by legislator Miriam Chikukwa.
The visit followed an allegations raised in a petition letter written to the parent ministry by Gweru Residents Forum (GRF) on lack of accountability in the use of devolution funds.
Gweru Residents Forum Board Secretary, Dr Vincent Chakunda told the committee that council should consult residents on how devolution funds should be used on priority areas towards service delivery.
“As residents, we are a strategic partner to council and we need to know how much council gets for devolution, and how the money is to be used so that we are part of the process. Lack of a devolution framework has affected council to enable and to follow clearly laid down procedures in the allocation of the funds on projects,” he added.
National Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (NANGO) Gweru coordinator Titus Mangoma said residents’ involvement in issues of devolution was minimal.
“It is not even clear to residents if the funds come already defined from the central government or they are residents who should define the use of funds through budget consultations,” he said.
Speaking on the aspect of involvement, Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) coordinator Gracia Mashingaidze however added that women required local authorities to prioritize engagement on devolution funds.
“We appeal to council to at least prioritize engagement because if devolution funds come, we do not even know what will be their stipulated use for the time given.
“It is equally important for us to then say, the money which is distributed under devolution cluster should therefore be used with accordance to people’s agreements. We want accountability and transparency on the use of this money,” Mashingaidze added.
Resident John Shumba said it was pathetic to note how the public toilet at Kudzanai terminus were being commercialized.
“As for me I am worried about the state of service delivery in the city as council is not doing enough to offer services to residents. I am worried about this toilet at Kudzanai bus terminus because people are paying exorbitant prices to get into the toilet.
“How can the security charge ZW$100 for one to access the toilet? Some people can not afford that because it is a lot you know. I had to help these other two gentlemen last time after discovering that they were already messing themselves. I sacrificed for them to use the facilities. Talking of these resident associations, we do not even know them. It is my first time to hear about these resident associations here. We do not know where you are located or how you are operating. Whether you are here for the residents or your own interests, I am lost on that one,” he said.
Gweru ward 11 councillor Albert Chirau said budgeting capital expenditure was a national problem.
“Capital expenditure is a national problem. If we are given ZW$302 million, then we go to the procurement body Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ), we can go as far as six months with no paperwork returned.
“I therefore recommend that, there is a special disposition for forex which is given to dealers, as local authorities we need it as well.
“We also need priority on Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) as well so that Zesa tariff is revised for local authorities to be able to offer services such as water,” Chirau said.

Melinda Kusemachibi

Masvingo Provincial Hospital which recently made headlines for having only one blood pressure testing machine has refuted the allegations, saying they have enough machines to cater for every department.
It was reported by unnamed sources that patients in at least five wards at the hospital have to share one BP testing machine.
Sources privy to the matter said the institution has for a number of years been surviving with few BP testing machines which often would break down, worsening the crisis.
“The hospital has few BP testing equipment and sometimes one machine has to cater for at least five wards,” said a source.
Masvingo Provincial Hospital Public Relations Officer Chioniso Gono denied the allegations and said the hospital has enough BP testing machines.
“It is not true that at least five wards are using one BP testing machine because each department has its testing machines,” said Gono.
She however contradicted herself as she said that there are only two machines at the maternity department.
“At the maternity department, there are only two BP testing machines. Each BP testing machine belongs to a certain department,” said Gono.
In a related issue Masvingo Provincial Medical Director (PMD) Amadeus Shamhu said the renal unit machines need replacement.
“The machines at the unit need replacement, so we are waiting for the company which was given the tender to come and see if they are still working then after that we will be in a position to give a comment on when it will be completed,” said Dr Shamhu.
Reports once surfaced that there were missing parts from donated equipment at the hospital. The story sparked anger among members of the public who felt that corrupt officials in the health sector were costing people’s lives.
A renal unit is critical at most major health institutions and assist patients with malfunctional kidneys to remove toxic substances from the body.
People with diseases such as diabetes and hypertension also require dialysis on a regular basis and the majority of them cannot afford the exorbitant fees charged in the private sector.

Emmanuel Chitsika

Media practitioners in Masvingo have been called upon to realise the key role media plays in either building or destroying society and thus should play their roles to ensure they immensely contribute to positive and sustainable peace as the nation gears towards 2023 harmonised elections.
Addressing journalists from various media houses in Masvingo on April 13 at Flamboyant Hotel, Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) researcher Lloyd Pswarayi said the media has a key role to play towards a peaceful and inclusive society that incorporates interests of women who are usually victims of politically-motivated violence.
“The oversight role played by media is thus crucial. There is need for media to report specifically on certain issues that are usually shunned by mainstream media. This workshop seeks to equip journalists with knowledge on reporting on human rights violations with specific focus on organised violence and torture an area which is lacking in information dissemination. The training seeks to help reporters to be able to flag up such issues in society and package the news for policing with policy makers.
“The participation of women and youth in political processes is very limited in most cases, the reason being violence limiting the participation of these groups of people. Whether it is gender-based violence or political, it all cascades around these issues of violence. Violence is very rife in almost all political parties. The political space is not gendered. During the recently-held by-elections, a very few women contested as candidates. Youth is also used during elections and after that they are dumped by political parties,” said Pswarayi.
He also said media should pay particular attention to major political events.
“There is need for the media to zero-in on human rights reporting because it is important to focus on issues that take place around key political events and processes like elections and other national commemorations,” he added.
Also presenting during the discussion Shastry Njeru said there have been incidences in which journalists turn blind eye to cases involving human rights violations.
“Why are so much worried about these violations of human rights? We are worried because we have been seeing a lot of human rights violations taking place across the country and journalists sometimes turn a blind eye towards such. It seems as if they employ the ‘Hear nothing, See nothing and Say nothing’. Just last month during the March 26 by-elections, a lot of violence took place which journalists did not document and we feel that there is real need to transform media and or help the media turn around that kind of reporting.
“I feel we still have time for the turn around because we have elections coming up in 2023, this year we have Independence and Heroes holidays. How easy it is for media to report about soccer, reporting it well and how difficult it is to report about violations of rights. The reasons are that sometimes we lack background knowledge of what are human rights and what is peace. As journalists it is critical for you to just have a general understanding of what are human rights and what is in the constitution about human rights. That will help reporters to report factually and maintain balance in stories,” said Njeru.
Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) Sociology and Social Anthropology lecturer Jocelyn Chitotombe urged journalists to ensure media play a part in promoting peace.
“We are looking into how we can promote peaceful and inclusive society for sustainable development, provision of access to justice for all and building accountable institutions at all levels and I think that should be a pre-requisite when it comes to media reporting.
“Human rights are a subject that is critical when it comes to generating news reports. The power of the pen and access to various platforms, ability to influence societies, it is our hope that this will help go a long way as far as sustainable peace is concerned,” said Chitotombe.
The human rights issue has been one of the most controversial topics in Zimbabwe especially during election periods when political violence becomes more prevalent with government on a number of occasions accused of straying from the constitutional requirements in pursuit of power consolidation.