….looks forward to new motorbikes

Brighton Chiseva

ZAKA – The cash-strapped Zaka Rural District Council recently
splurged thousands of dollars on expensive smartphones for the 34 councilors, a move
which has drawn sharp criticism from residents who accuse the local authority
of misplaced priorities.

Residents accused the local
authority of failing to prioritise more important issues like refuse collection
and provision of safe and reliable water for domestic use.

“Jerera has no dumpsite and
council cannot even collect refuse regularly. We therefore feel that the
councillors and council management are serving themselves,” said a Jerera
resident.

When contacted for comment, council
chairperson Cornelius Mapuranga justified the purchase but refused to divulge
the type of cellphones bought for councillors.

Some sources, however, said each
councillor got a 10-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 which trades in some South
African retail outlets for R8 000, an equivalent of US$572. The phone comes
with a standard 34 gigabytes of internal memory.

Mapuranga said councillors were
now looking forward to getting motorbikes when the authority’s financial
position ‘improves’.

“We wanted to ease the burden of
communication so we bought the cellphones. Our wards are big and we cannot be
travelling all the time. We need to use the cellphones to communicate. The type
of phones we bought doesn’t matter, what matters is that we now have easy
communication with our people. We are now looking forward to getting motorbikes
in the near future,” said Mapuranga.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
David Majaura refused to comment, saying he was out of office and referred all
comments to administrator Nancy Chatikobo who was also not available.

A 2017 full council resolution
rejected demands by some councillors for motorbikes and only approved
cellphones which, however, could not be bought until now.

Zaka District Development
Coordinator (DCC) Ndeya Nyede defended the move and said the money will be
recovered during the councillors’ term of office in the same manner that a
stands-for-councillors scheme works.

“The money will be recovered
during their term of office. For effective communication, it’s important that
they got those phones. The government is preaching E-governance so it’s a
positive start,” said Nyede.

…as
public criticises elitist approach, poor publicity

Clayton Shereni

Public
hearings on access to national documentation being conducted by the Zimbabwe
Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) began on a dismal note in Masvingo today, July
02, with very few people attending what was supposed to be a
big and inclusive gathering.

The
hearings are being held at Flamboyant Hotel, a place that some people
criticised as elitist and not representative of the people whose views the programme
ostensibly wants to get.

An
hour after the first leg of the hearings began, there were more ZHRC staff and
special interest groups in attendance than members of the public, and there was
not meaningful improvement in attendance as the day progressed.

Members
of the public who spoke to TellZim News said the hearings could have been held
at a more accessible place.

“They
could have done better if they held the hearings at a place like the Civic Centre
gardens which is more accessible to the public. Taking the hearings to a hotel
says a lot about the people they want to attend. They are communicating the
wrong message. You should know the most convenient place to do your programme
if you really want ordinary people to attend,” said one informal trader.

Disability
activist, Pastor Calvour Mugwadi said he seldom misses information on activities
of that nature and was surprised, therefore, that he did not hear about this
one.

“I
did not even know there were such hearings of that kind in this city. I am only
hearing it from you. Maybe the only people they want to attend are those they
knew will make the kind of contributions they want to hear. How can a programme
of such importance be conducted without properly informing the public,” said Mugwadi.

Women
Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) Masvingo Chapter chairperson Joyce Mhungu also
said her organisation did not know about the hearings.

“We
did not know about the programme. We would have wanted many women to attend the
hearings because they are critical in children’s ability to acquire identity
documents. It also seems the programme is of great interest to people in
marginalised communities,” said Mhungu.

However,
ZHRC chairperson Dr Elasto Mugwadi said he was overwhelmed by the level of
preparedness and cooperation shown by Masvingo province.

“The
commission is satisfied with its level of preparedness for the public hearings
in Masvingo starting today. The commission appreciates the support received in
this province in preparation for these public hearings,” said Dr Mugwadi.

ZHRC
is on a programme to gather views on challenges being faced in accessing
national documents like birth certificates, national identity cards, passports,
death certificates and citizenship.