TellZim Reporter

GWERU – One of the most popular joints in the city, Powerhouse Night Club is continuing along its chosen path of promoting dance groups for the purposes of talent development.

Speaking to TellZim News, Powerhouse Night Club manager, Dennis Murewa said the popular spot was growing rapidly due to artists that are regularly being given a chance to perform there.

He said the Super Sweet dance group from Harare is performing at the club this very week starting Wednesday, April 04, until Sunday.

The Club has so far hired quite number of artists including Taruvinga Manjokota popularly known as Sugar Sugar, Madzibaba Nicholas Zakaria and Lucky Kunene.

“Our weekly Ladies Night that are held on Thursdays started promoting upcoming female artists last week and we have Zillah from Kwekwe who left the patrons crying for more and this week we have T Fyness from Harare, who is in the Ricky Fire-led Fire Family, and Gweru’s finest MC DJ Ice.

“We are going to be introducing our weekly episodes of the Mad Sundays (Reggae and Dancehall Nights) which will bring in reggae-playing soundmen and DJs,” said Murewa.entertainment.

Margaret Mutsamvi

Moses Ziyambi

CHIVI – People in Ngundu are living in intense fear following several reports of violent criminals roaming the environs, leading to prospective female voters choosing not to go to registration centres, TellZim news has learnt.

Recently, police captured self-confessed criminal Charles Matanga Magombedze who had gone on a spate of violent rapes and murders against countless women.

 Although he was sentenced to a total of 72 years in prison before being referred to the High Court to face multiple counts of murder, there is still palpable fear in many communities in Chivi district as people believe was not acting alone.

 The Economic Justice for Women Project (EJWP) has identified the many reports of marauding robbers, rapists and murderers commonly referred to as ‘mabhinya’ as a setback against efforts to encourage more people, especially women, to go and register to vote.

 The organisation is targeting to work with organised groups of sex workers in the area as project ambassadors.

 It aims to take a leading role in mobilising community leaders and members in enhancing active participation in electoral processes.

 EJWP director, Margaret Mutsamvi told TellZim News that the organisation was facing serious challenges in mobilising people in Chivi particularly women and people with disabilities.

 "People in Ngundu are living in fear for ‘mabhinya’ and the rising speculation has kept them afraid. In this regard, the mobilisation process tends to be harder as people cannot freely walk to registration centres.

"Some people now have to accompany their young children to and from school so walking to Chivi Rural District Council offices to register to vote is no longer a priority," Mutsamvi said.

 A woman from Chivi South said it was true that freedom in the area had been dealt a blow by the fear of bandits, such that woman would go out only when there is a burning need to do so.

 “I am fortunate because I registered to vote long back when all this had not started. Now it’s something else, the environment is different and women are the most affected,” said the woman who requested anonymity.

Zimbabwe Election Commission (Zec) has not yet been able to establish an on-site voter registration kit at Ngundu despite representations by the organisation and other stakeholders in Chivi.

On that issue, Mutsamvi said such a kit would help much in efforts to improve voter registration figures in a constituency that has emerged as being among those with the least number of registered voters so far in Masvingo province.

She said it was high time women, rural women more so, realised their importance and used their numerical advantage over men to register to vote in their thousands so that their concerns can stand a better chance of being heard.

“There is need to continue developing the capacity of rural as well as other groups of marginalised women to take part in the informed selection of political leaders,” she said.

She said the group was running another mobilisation project in Beitbridge targeting people with disabilities while seeking to enhance their active participation in electoral processes.

Wilson Chivhanga

Tiyani Hahlani

MASVINGO – Dream Zimbabwe (DZ) executive director Wilson Chivhanga has challenged the youths in Zimbabwe to participate in the upcoming harmonised elections as they cannot really expect to be leaders of a tomorrow they did not map.

DZ is a youth-led organisation founded in 2017 to enhance youth participation in democratic processes through promoting democratic governance, human rights and citizen participation.

Chivhanga said young people should participate by voting as well as by standing as candidates in the general elections if they are to claim their rightful stake in the affairs of the country.

“Youths cannot be the leaders of a tomorrow which they did not help shape. They can lead today by making sure that they participate in events which will shape the future,” said Chivhanga.

He also said youths tend to overlook the importance of voting and do not know that their voice is important.

He said democracy could not work without the active participation of the majority of citizens, with history having shown that a collective youth vote could actually sway an election.

Chivhanga also said he would like to partner TellZim News to have interviews and guest columns and offer public debates on youth participation in elections.

He also highlighted reasons why youths do not participate in elections, saying young people have largely been neglected in decision-making processes hence they do not see the need to participate.

He said there was a cultural phenomenon that elders should lead, adding up to discriminatory primary election entry requirements by parties and financial constraints as some of the reasons why young people are not dominant in political offices.

“Because of the financial constraints, the youth do not have a fair chance in politics as they will be doing something else to survive. Young people, as a result, find themselves playing second fiddle to dominant political players who are often older, more resourced persons,” said Chivhanga.

In Masvingo, the trend shows that many Members of Parliament (MPs) are older men, mostly in their late 40s going upwards but their campaign managers are mostly much younger men who, if better resourced, would be MPs themselves.

Tobias Zunguzira speaks during the meeting

Itai Muzondo Midlands Bureau

GWERU – The Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe (ACCZ) recently made a bizarre claim to the effect that President Emmerson Mnangagwa had the right to kill and to forgive anyone who poses a threat to Zanu PF’s political interests.

Speaking during a national executive induction meeting held at Midlands Hotel recently, ACCZ vice president Tobias Zunguzira said the President Mnangagwa must be allowed free reign just as the Biblical King David.

“As churches, we should know that David had the power to kill and power to forgive. As churches, we mustn’t then take that privilege from our leaders saying it jeopardises free and fair elections. Let the President do all it takes to safeguard his legacy,” Zunguzira said.

Also in attendance was Johannes Ndanga who said churches must champion unity behind political leaders of the day in line with Biblical traditions.

“We took an opportunity to make our committee aware that we will be supporting Mnangagwa in the forthcoming election. We think all the journeying he is doing to market Zimbabwe is a good job and should be supported and applauded.

“Romans Chapter 13 says be under your leadership as they were put there by God. It goes on to say ‘those who are on the throne’ and that tells us no one else can come. Some say we do hero-worshiping but it’s not that as we simply do what is directly quoted from the Bible. In Shona, the closure reads, ‘varipo ivavo’ and not ‘vasipo ivavo’,” Ndaga said.

Known for his fawning attitude towards Zanu PF leaders, Ndanga late last year declared that former president Robert Mugabe would never be removed from power and would rule till death.

Masendeke Chipato in his field during the Agriseeds fiedl day

Nyasha Marumbi

Farmers in Masvingo have been encouraged to use Agriseeds’ new Zap 61 hybrid maize seed which has been seen to be suitable for much of the province’s soils and climatic conditions.

Farmers were introduced to the new seed during a field day held in the Bhani area, with many farmers expressing eagerness to try the new variety.

Agriseeds Masvingo branch salesman Onai Sibanda said Zap 61 was an early medium seed which matures after 125 – 135 days depending on the area it is planted.

Over 50 farmers were invited to witness a bumper harvest by one of the farmers in Bhani, Masendeke Chipato who produced quite a lot on his relatively small piece of land.

"Despite the hot temperatures we experienced last month, Chipato produced a bumper harvest after he planted Zap 61. We recommend this new seed as it has proven to be better than others in terms of endurance and speed of growth," Sibanda said.

Rejoice Chipato, who is wife to Masendeke, said farming was a process of continuous learning with new methods emerging all the time.

"We should move away from some of our habits of sticking to the same seed varieties that we have been growing since time immemorial and embrace new ways of farming," Chipato said.

Agriseeds sales and marketing country director, Ivan Craig also encouraged farmers to use the new seed which he said could guarantee them better yields even when the rains are not so good.

He also encouraged farmers to open their own markets and sell their produce as they are rather than to allow middleman to bring in cheap stuff in exchange for maize.

"There are a lot of benefits that can be realised from maize production so we should open our own markets and not to wait for middleman to come and buy our grain. Some of these middlemen bring cheap stuff like rice, soap and second hand clothes that are not as valuable as our own produce,” said Craig.