Masvingo city council has reiterated that council always maintains an ‘open door’ policy to every stakeholder interested in attending full council meetings.
Responding to questions on why some key stakeholders like the District Development Coordinator (DDC), Environmental Management Agency (EMA) among others are not attending full council meetings on January 31 at Town House, Masvingo Mayor Councilor Collen Maboke said the Urban Council Act is clear and everyone is welcome.
Mayor Maboke said that all stakeholders are free to attend full council meetings as they do not give any formal communication regarding the attendance.
“The act is very clear on who is supposed to attend the full council meeting, it is supposed to be attended by councilors, and members of the public. So whoever is eager to know what will be happening in full council meetings is welcome.
“We cannot move around telling stakeholders to attend. If I may ask who invited you when you (press) to come?,” said Maboke.
Contacted for comment Masvingo DDC Roy Hove said he had been attending full council meetings ever since but he was not aware of the first full council held on January 31, 2022 though he had not been attending even in 2021.
“I have been attending full council meetings. As of yesterday, I heard there was a committee not a full council meeting.
“I always send analysts who have been attending those meetings,” said Hove.
Some observers have questioned lack of attendance to full council meetings by other stakeholders who are an integral part in implementing developmental projects, which sometimes puts in jeopardy council resolutions.
As ‘Back to school’ fever grips the whole nation when the 2022 educational calendar gets underway, safety of the various stakeholders who take part in the school environment should be a cause for concern. The delays to the first term initially set for January 10 before postponement due to rising cases of Covid-19 as government put it, might mean that administrators could have utilized on the available time to adequately prepare for the opening of schools and thus safety must be guaranteed in schools.
The previous scenario witnessed upon resumption of lessons after long periods of absence from schools that culminated in high cases of the pandemic in schools should be a thing of the past, hence stakeholders should have learnt something while at the same time forgotten nothing.
The state of preparedness of schools to entail relevant safety measures being put in place for learners to learn in a risk-free environment that include presence of Covid-19 combating measures like hands washing zones incorporated.
Government as a responsible authority should therefore ensure that national and international Covid-19 rules and regulations are strictly adhered to so as to protect the young, innocent souls if they are to live up to their billing of ensuring safety.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and parents as well should join hands to ensure safety of the travelling parties especially on the roads to ensure precious lives are not lost to road carnage either out of negligence or ‘silly’ human errors which have become prevalent on the country’s major roads.
This demands the policing authority to ensure unauthorized transporters are kept off the roads so as to keep the occurrence of accidents under check. Also there is need to ensure conformity and adherence to set traffic and road rules in the fight against road carnage.
What this means is that there is need to make sure that offenders are brought to book and corrupt tendencies as ‘a ghost’ on the roads should cease to exist or just sink into oblivion while ensuring safety. As such ethical practices and sincerity should be on the fore to arrest the marauding fire that has haunted policing on our roads.
Silobela –What seemed to be a jovial beer drinking spree among patrons ended tragically after two men were stabbed to death by their drinking mates following a dispute over a girlfriend.
The incident occurred at Cross roads Business Centre, Silobela on January 29, 2022 at about 0030.
Midlands Provincial Police Spokesperson, Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko confirmed the incident and said the suspects were already in police custody.
“Police once again appeal to members of the public to always prioritize settling disputes through dialogue.
“We received a report where three men, Blessed Sibanda (25) of Madhambi village, Nqaba Ndlovu (21) from Simangeta village all under Chief Malisa, Silobela and Hillary Maphosa were injured and rushed to Kwekwe District Hospital where Sibanda and Maphosa were pronounced dead upon arrival.
“Ndlovu is still admitted at the hospital and receiving treatment. The two suspects have since been arrested and are in police custody,” said Mahoko.
Sources privy to the incident said on the fateful day, the now deceased were drinking beer at Cross Roads Business Centre together with the two suspects.
The suspects Talcott Mupasi (25) and Agape Munashe Mupasi (21) are alleged to be brothers and resident at the business centre.
After some time of drinking, a misunderstanding arose between Sibanda and Talcott over a girlfriend. The argument immediately degenerated into a fist fight between the two.
Talcott brother’s Agape intervened and started beating Sibanda. Talcott produced a knife and stabbed Sibanda at the back and he fell down. Maphosa intervened trying to stop the melee but was also stabbed.
After seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, Ndlovu tried to intervene to stop the fight but was stabbed again on the chest by Talcott. The two accused persons fled leaving the three lying in pools of blood.
Progress at the recently commissioned landfill at Cambria Farm has been slow, with Masvingo councilors blaming management for failure to meet the target they had agreed on.
In a recent full council meeting, councilors accused the engineering department of being incompetent, saying they deliberately misled them on progress at the site.
Mayor Cllr Collen Maboke took the engineering department to task for misleading him in 2021 when they told him about progress at the landfill.
“You lied to me last year when you said that the new land fill will be ready for use by September. I told the media and they are here so you should tell them the truth.
“Right now you are proposing that you will finish work after rainy season, you do not know when the rains will stop and from my own point of view you have failed to that end,” Cllr Maboke said.
Maboke’s sentiments were echoed by Deputy Mayor Cllr Wellington Mahwende who said the state of the old dump site is not pleasing as it presents a likely health disaster to the residents nearby.
“Refuse situation is worsening at the old dump site, it is getting into people’s houses,” said Cllr Mahwende.
Masvingo Acting Town Engineer Kudzaishe Mbetu however stood his ground and convinced the councilors that the situation was under control.
“We cannot do any work as of now since we are in the rainy season. Our tippers will sink in the mud. We are also having financial challenges, but we promise that we will finish work in two months’ time after the rainy season. In terms of progress we are 80 percent complete,” said Eng Mbetu.
The time that the engineering department is suggesting that they would have finished the work at Cambria farm was however said to be unrealistic basing on the fact that they were supposed to have started using it last year.
Council had targeted to finish two cells out of 16 and completing the whole project by 2025.
Mwenezi –Three teachers from Mwenezi East are going to battle it out at the March 26 by-elections to replace the late Zanu PF legislator Joosbi Omar who left the seat vacant in 2020.
All the three candidates are long time serving teachers in the district and the winner, above all else is expected to address education related issues in the constituency.
Zanu PF will be represented by Master Makope while Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) will be represented by Tendekai Mandizvidza. Joseph Busha’s Free Zimbabwe Congress (FZC)’s will be represented by Turner Mhango.
If experience in governance is anything to go by, Makope is the best candidate for the seat having served as a councillor for quite a long time. The 46 year former Mwenezi RDC vice chairperson is a holder of BA General Degree from University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and BSc Honours degree in Geography and Environmental Science from Great Zimbabwe University (GZU).
Master Makope
Born and bred in Zvirikure village’s ward 5 under Chief Neshuro in Mwenezi, Makope later became councillor between 2013 and 2018.
Makope taught at Mwenezi Government High School for 18 years and held various positions of leadership in the schools administration and sports before he was promoted to head Avhunga Secondary School in 2020.
In Zanu PF he held a position of secretary for education for Chidzine District from 2002 to date and is the current district political commissar.
During his tenure as ward five councillor, he spearheaded a number of developmental projects including the construction and rehabilitation of dams and boreholes.
As the current Zanu PF Mwenezi District Political Commissar (PC) and confident of victory, Makope told TellZim News that having already ignited the district’s development agenda, he is well-versed with the problems and have credible solutions to the electorate’s plight.
“As a son of Mwenezi, I know our problems and possible solutions. I am looking for Mwenezi East at a bigger picture. During my tenure as ward 5 councillor, I initiated the construction and rehabilitation of several dams. I managed to increase the number of functional boreholes from 36 to 73 in ward 5 and as an MP I will work to increase the number in the province.
“My major target is to quickly address real concerns of the people of Mwenezi East. Rehabilitation and drilling of boreholes is an ongoing process which I started way back and have been covering the entire district. Road maintenance, improving social amenities, fighting corruption, youth and women empowerment are among my priority list,” said Makope.
Though Mwenezi has been regarded as Zanu PF’s traditional powerhouse, humble as he is Makope is likely to garner additional votes from people of diverse political groupings, not because they like his political party but they seem to believe in the ‘Man himself’ and are seemingly convinced he is among the best locals to take the post.
The Nelson Chamisa-led Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) candidate Mandizvidza (59) is a long time teacher who is a holder of a BA Honours from University Zimbabwe. The man is well known in the district as before his retirement from teaching in 2015 since 1982, taught at several schools among them Hebron, Neshuro, Batanai, Masvitsi and Nikita among others.
Tendekai Mandizvidza
Mandizvidza who is the current party’s district treasurer joined politics during his days at UZ where he engaged in student activism.
He told TellZim News that he is confident and if given the mandate to represent the people of Mwenezi East, he has the ultimate solutions to the long forgotten people of the constituency.
“I am confident of victory. The electorate is tired of empty promises that the ruling party has been promising since time immemorial. If elected, I will expeditiously work on the district’s roads, clinics and schools which have been in shambles for too long especially those in resettlement areas.
“We have a lot of resources in the district which are underutilised notably Manyuchi Dam. My immediate plan is to ensure that locals reap tangible benefits from the water body,” said Mandizvidza.
Another Mwenezi East aspirant FZC’s Mhango born at Matibi Mission Hospital on May 16, 1978 has also been into teaching since 2003.
Tendekai Mandizvidza
A holder of a diploma in education from Morgenster Teachers College, Mhango taught at Matande Primary School before transferring to Masogwe Primary School where he is currently stationed.
He joined active politics soon after the formation of the MDC in 1999, occupying the position of youth district treasurer until towards 2013 elections.
Although Mhango remained in the MDC-T after the 2005 split, subsequent disagreements in the party made him leave the party in the run up to the 2013 harmonised elections. He later on came back to active politics under the FZC banner.
Having contested in the previous by-elections to replace the late MP Joshua Moyo who died in 2016 and garnering a few votes, Mhango is still confident to win the right to represent the constituency in the National Assembly.
“I am a man of action who is well-versed in district’s needs and I have the solutions. I hope people across the political divide will vote for me because I am a man of action. People are tired of being tossed around by Zanu PF and other opposition parties who seem to have no solutions,” said Mhango.
Mhango owns a company, View World Installations, which deals with installing satellite dishes and other related services.
Gweru City council on Monday January 24 unpacked its 2022 developmental roadmap plan to the community and other stakeholders including the church.
The engagement was hosted by the Zimbabwe Head of Churches Denomination (ZHOCD) workshop under the theme “Strengthening the role of the church in promoting social cohesion and civic participation within devolution process.”
Addressing various stakeholders during the engagement meeting in Gweru, Ward 15 Councillor Trust Chineni said a number of plans were in the pipeline this year.
He told the gathering that some of the plans are being carried forward from the 2021 plan schedule as council was working in accordance to the resources at hand.
“Our 2022 plans started with our 2022 budget consultations where we engaged residents concerning our budget and what we intend to do as a city. Other plans are to construct substations in Mkoba and Senga as we discovered that our fire brigade team reaction times to emergencies are being delayed by poor road networks. If our substations are closer, at least our teams can respond to accidents on time.
“We also want to increase our ambulance fleet because our emergency department requires about 5 ambulances in order to operate effectively in the city and the province at large. All things being equal, we even render services to areas as far as Battlefield in Kwekwe and Ntabazinduna especially on road accidents.
Chineni said the city managed to purchase an ambulance and a tipper last year through the ZW$50.6 million devolution funds allocated to them, adding that paperwork for the ambulance was not yet complete for it to start operating. He said council also aimed at increasing public lighting to ensure public safety at night.
“We started installing tower lights last year and we are continuing. In the Central Business District (CBD) you can see that lights were installed but we hope to go to residential areas,” said Chineni.
He added that lights installation was being done in compliance with the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) regulations.
“Installation of lights is being done in compliance with the ZERA regulations as we were made to install energy savers. So a tower unit the last time we checked was going for ZW$ 400 000 and as of now, we are not sure where it stands. So its quiet expensive and we hope with the devolution funds, things will go well this year,” he added.
Presenting on the state of by-laws awareness and adoption, Gweru ward 8 Councillor Notai Dzika said as a local authority, there was need for people to know the importance of embracing the law in the community.
He added that the recently passed noise by-law was meant to reduce noise pollution in residential areas as some people were infringing the liberties and rights of others.
“We were recently experiencing cases of all night parties and ceremonies which were disturbing others in various wards. The problem is that when people do their parties, they do not have any clearance from the relevant authorities hence they go on to violate rights of others who want to sleep, study and do some other business. So the law give restrictions on the time at which people ought to operate when using sound systems.
“We continue to urge vendors to go to designated sites. Selling in front of other shops is prohibited and soon we have by-laws which will be enforced in line with that because as a local authority we do not even collect revenue from such people because their trading areas are illegal.
“We are also into road repairs this year as last year we got ZW$11 million from Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) but it was not enough to refurbish all our roads. We hope this year ZINARA will disburse more funds so that we revamp the roads without any hindrances,” added Dzika.
Recently council received a new tractor and a front end loader which were bought using devolution funds last year
Meanwhile, the church has been urged to pray and advocate for development.
Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) Gweru Programs Officer, Tatenda Ushe urged the church to be actively involved in governance issues.
Following the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Zimbabwe by the United Nations on the state of human rights in the country on January 26, 2022 in Geneva, the Troika (decision group) comprising of Armenia, Luxemburg and Namibia delivered the recommendations section of the draft report on January 28.
Speaking on behalf of the Troika, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Namibia to United Nations (UN), Julia Imene-Chanduru said 95 delegates delivered statements and 264 recommendations were made to Zimbabwe, which it received and deferred some for further consideration.
“During the review, 95 delegates delivered their statements and Zimbabwe welcomed 127 of them and 98 were deferred for further recommendation with responses to be provided in due time, no later than the 5th session of the United Nations UPR in 2027.
“Zimbabwe noted 39 recommendations for adoption,” said Imene-Chanduru.
Some of the recommendations noted for adoption include involvement of women at all stages of peace and reconciliation processes, including in decision-making; gender-based violence against women; and amendment of the Trafficking in Persons Act, Marriages Act among others.
Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of Zimbabwe, Virginia Mabiza said they took note of constructive suggestions and ideas, as such, they will in time come up with a final position.
“We have taken note of the various constructive ideas and recommendations we received. Going forward my government will consider these recommendations under the auspices of the national UPR follow-up mechanisms with a view to coming up with our final position which will be transmitted to the national secretariat in line with set time lines.
“In the meantime, we will continue to pursue our on-going work to implement the recommendations that we received in the previous UPR cycles as well as to enhance the promotion and protection of the human rights of our people and to fulfil our international obligations,” said Mabiza.
President of the Human Rights Council (Adoption), Federico Villegas said the entire report including the summary will be sent to delegates on February 11, 2022.
“The entire report and summary section will be circulated by email on February 11, 2022. All delegates will have till February 18 to make changes related to their own statements in the summary section of the report,” said Villegas.
Gweru– The Civil Protection Unit (CPU) last week engaged the church over disaster management preparedness in the province.
The event hosted by Zimbabwe Head of Christians Denominations (ZHOCD) in Gweru aimed at making efforts to equip the church on disaster management mechanisms.
Speaking on the sidelines of the engagement, Deputy Director in the Office of the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Isaac Mtambara said CPU saw it fit to engage the church as disaster management requires a multi-sectorial approach.
“For successful Civil Protection Unit interventions, definitely we need to adopt to a multi sectorial approach as this is an all-inclusive mechanism which requires all hands on desk. Organizations, churches, Chiefs and people from different wards all have a bigger role to play. The reason for this multi-sectorial approach is for us to look at the situation together by easily identifying those affected and mapping the way forward together.
“As for our communities, they are well structured to cater for proper information dissemination but if the communities happen to have information gaps, it then means someone will be sitting on their jobs,” said Mutamba.
He also said the recently experienced flooding in Woodlands and Mkoba suburbs have been attributed to poor drainage systems in the city.
“Poor drainage systems are the sole cause of flooding in Woodlands and some parts of Mkoba, so we urge our Gweru local authority and Vungu Rural Council to see to it that we have an effective and well attended to drainage system to avert this challenge for good.
“We are still working with our local authority to find out how we can assist the affected families though we want an urgent intervention to the drainages,” he added.
Midlands State University (MSU) Lecturer in the Department of Development Studies, Dr Douglas Munemo said use of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in disaster management was a vital element.
“IKS remains a vital tool in disaster management as it help us along the Eurocentric mechanisms. So there is need for us to try and incorporate IKS into our curriculum. We ought to see management which is independent where people use mechanisms which are around them than always being dependent on government for help.
“There is need to harness and finding out what the country have in terms of dealing with disasters, thus looking at Flora and Fauna. For instance fruits like Mazhanje predict hunger so the mechanism behind is tree bearing much fruits to is concluded as a net which cover hunger,” said Munemo.
He added that there was power in triangulating Europe-based knowledge.
Over 980 households were reportedly affected by flash floods in Gweru from the heavy rains that hit the city early this year.
The District CPU vice-chairperson Tarisayi Mudadigwa said the affected areas were Woodlands Phase 2, Mkoba 3, and 4.
The unit has mobilized resources to assist Gweru City Council to clear water drainages.
MASVINGO – Newly elected Masvingo Provincial Chairperson Robson Mavhenyengwa recently told the Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) that he had been instructed not to lose by-elections saying losing would be considered a criminal and punishable offence in the party.
Mavhenyengwa said they had been summoned in Harare where the acting national political commissar Patrick Chinamasa instructed them not to lose the elections or face punishment.
“We have decided to meet and discuss as an organised party because it is our mandate to win all the seats. We were told when we went to Harare by the acting Political Commissar Cde Chinamasa that losing was not an option but a criminal offence that was punishable. So out of the nine local authority seats with four urban wards, we have to win all of them,” said Mavenyengwa.
Mavhenyengwa had earlier told TellZim News that they were going to win all the province’s by-elections including four urban wards that they have been losing from the then MDC-Alliance party.
“We are going to win all the by-elections in the province, even those in Masvingo urban. We have experienced personnel that if we employ their tactics, we will not lose.
“If we combine the knowledge and experience that our former Chairperson Ezra Chadzamira has, combined with what I have, we will not lose,” he said.
Mavhenyengwa said this time around they have no uncontested seat saying the new party Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) led by Chamisa fielded candidates in all the vacant seats.
“This time we were contested in all vacant wards and constituencies especially from this newly formed small party led by Chamisa. They have candidates in all seats and wards, but our duty is to win them all,” he said.
He went on to say they have decided to go on with the candidates who won in the primary elections held under the old leadership saying he was part of it and all was done in order.
He preached unity saying he and Chadzamira have already buried the hatchet and were working together, saying those still labelling people with baskets were wrong.
The new chairperson said they were going to do a restructuring exercise which is meant to address anomalies that were done during the cell restructuring last year.
“We noted a lot of anomalies in the cells and are going to do a restructuring exercise. When we go there, we will not be on a witch hunt as many people may think. There is no Mavhenyengwa or Chadzamira people. All the people belong to Zanu PF and President Mnangagwa. We had a meeting with Chadzamira recently to show that we are united,” he said.
Kwekwe based striking sensation Liberty “Bango” Masveure is proving himself a gem having so far netted five goals in six outings propelling the ‘Construction Boys’ to pole position on Central Region Division One soccer league standings.
At only 22, young Masveure has defied the odds in a league that boasts of experienced strikers from competitive teams including Chapungu, TelOne, ZPC Munyati, Tongogara and Vumbachikwe.
Speaking to this publication, the former Manunure High School and Chrome Stars junior said that all the outstanding performance is because of current head coach and mentor John Nyikadzino who groomed the young star during his hey days at Nichrut Fc in 2018.
“I have scored five goals so far. Yes, performance wise I have been good, but all thanks goes to coach Nyikadzino. He is the best. He taught me football since I was a junior until now. He has been telling me to be patient and now my time has come. I always play with confidence, not to disappoint him and to always up my form,” said Masveure.
Bango’s fruitful outing so far was an away game at Ronnie Mabhidhi Stadium against a stubborn Dulibadzimu side where he netted twice to give Sheasham a final 3 – 2 win and the young striker cherishes this game as ‘his best so far’.
Other Kwekwe based players also impacting at the Gweru based construction side are Nigel “Koko” Mpinduki and Tinashe Nyengera.
Masveure is hopeful of scoring more as the league continues.
Meanwhile Sheasham Fc sailed past Fc Platinum Under-19 last Saturday to maintain poll position with 14 points from six outings.
Kwekwe United are second with 11 points from 5 outings while WiFi boys have also played 5 games amassing 11 points.
New boys Bishopstone are dismally anchoring the log with a single point.
Sheasham face Chapungu in a explosive Gweru derby at Gweru Sports this Saturday.
