BY SIMBARASHE SITHOLE

ZIM Musicians Football Club captain and popular dancehall chanter Shadreck “King Shaddy” Kwarire recently said musicians had realised the power of football to break barriers and build bridges among artistes.

The musician said he teamed up with colleagues to set up a football club in May this year to cement relations among artistes.

“With football, all musicians are grouped as one and teamwork is key. That also goes for our fans who will support us as one team,” he said.

“Before, we could not be comfortable to call each other and get together even at our homes, fearing that one would dis you after visiting you, but since the formation of this football team, we are socialising a lot and helping each other in times of trouble.”

King Shaddy said the team recently played a pivotal role when Emmanuel “Guspy Warrior” Manyeruke lost his grandmother and when Lady Squanda also lost a loved one.

The Amai Huni hitmaker said that the team received overwhelming support from families that could not attend their shows at nightclubs.

“This team has also made life easier for families to interact with their favourite artistes. Imagine having Peter Moyo, Shinsoman, Knox and Sniper, among others, in one team!” King Shaddy said.

He said as a musicians’ football club, they discouraged drug abuse which is reportedly prevalent in music and football circles.

by RICHARD MUPONDE

A SELF-PROCLAIMED Buhera prophet has landed himself in soup after he bedded a 13-year-old girl three times before she eloped with him.

Tafadzwa Mabanga (26) of Chief Chamutsa in Buhera pleaded guilty to having sex with a minor when he appeared before Chipinge magistrate, Joshua Nembaware.

He was convicted and remanded in custody to today for sentence.

In mitigation, Mabanga pleaded for leniency and indicated that he wanted to marry the girl.

“You worship I am married with two children, one aged two years while the other is one-month old. I wanted to marry to the girl,” Mabanga said.

Prosecutor Gift Bikita told the court that sometime in August this year at around 4pm, Mabanga met the girl, who is aged 13 and doing Grade Six, on her way home from school and proposed love to her.

However, the girl turned down his proposal.

In October, he met her again while she was in the company of her friend and she accepted.

During the same month, the girl fell sick and went to his house for a prayer session and Mabanga lured her into his bedroom where he became intimate with her with her consent.

Last month, the girl asked for permission from her mother to go to church and it was granted.

She met Mabanga and they became intimate again after which he gave her $20.

The court heard that on November 18 at around 3pm, he went to the girl’s homestead in the absence of her parents and slept with her before buying her silence with $30.

The following day, the girl eloped to his homestead and they started staying together.

The matter came to light five days later after the girl’s mother gathered that she was staying with Mabanga and made a police report, leading to his arrest.

BY WINSTONE ANTONIO

ZIM Gossip Models agency founder Mercy “Catwalk” Mushaninga (pictured) yesterday described male models as trendsetters in the industry.

Speaking ahead of the 2019 edition of Mister Zimbabwe pageant where 15 models will battle for honours, Mushaninga said the models were dedicated and destined for success.

She said excellent character, good physique, great communication skills and deportment were critical traits for male models and dismissed claims that the majority of male models were gay.

“In every industry there are allegations of some sort, these are just allegations. I chose not to judge and discriminate people,” she said.

Mushaninga said preparations for the pageant, to be held under the theme Promoting Male Models through Modelling, were now at an advanced stage.

“As part of the Zimbabwe Models Awards, it has always been our drive to empower and support all male models in Zimbabwe and as Zimbabwe Models we would like male models to use this opportunity (Mister Zimbabwe) to push their brand to make them known both as a model and as a brand,” she said.

Two winners would be crowned this year — the king to be crowned by the judges and the prince to be voted by the public on the pageant’s voting platform.

Zimbabwe has had a long list of successful models including Jonathan Denga, Jefferson Muserera, Lungani Mkwebu, Tichaona “Tich” Maruziva and former Mister Zimbabwe King Rishi (2016), King Shadel (2017) and King Byron (2018).

BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE

HARARE Wetlands Trust (HWT) has engaged the Ministry of Environment to strengthen legislation reform with regards to the protection of wetlands.

HWT programmes manager Selestino Chari raised concern with Environment minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu at the stakeholders meeting last week.

The Harare Wetlands Trust said wetlands were being plundered in the capital and there was need to protect the water sources from further destruction and declare wetlands ecologically-sensitive areas. The organisation also called for the strengthening and reform of legislation which protects the wetlands.

“There is a need to strengthen and reform legislation with regards to the protection of wetlands. There is also an imperative need for the gazetting of the Harare wetlands map and the City of Harare should come up with a master plan as well as a local environmental action plan on the protection of wetlands,” Chari said.

According to the Environmental Management Act, wetlands must be declared ecologically-sensitive areas.

Chari added that the destruction of wetlands in Harare had resulted in the siltation of the capital’s main water source, Lake Chivero.

“Due to continued wetlands destruction in Harare, siltation of the capital’s main water source, Lake Chivero has rapidly increased. Wetlands destruction has also come with huge costs on water purification. Preserving wetlands will allow them to play their natural function of water purification, hence reducing costs associated with the purification of water.”

The HWT also encouraged the government to take a leaf from countries such as Kenya and Uganda that have implemented the Ramsar Convention recommendations on the restoration of wetlands.

“The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has been issuing Environmental Impact Assessment certificates that have paved the way for construction on wetlands and all spaces issued with certificates are wetland areas. We urge the authority to declare Harare a wetland city.

There is a serious violation of the law that is leading to the destruction of wetlands in Harare. Some companies are proceeding with construction projects in the absence of Environmental Impact Assessment certificates and development permits,” Chari said.

He further submitted that the City of Harare must be compelled to consult stakeholders before proceeding to issue development permits and also emphasised the need to create a one-stop-shop for the issuance of Environmental Impact Assessment certificates to allow for objections from concerned stakeholders.

Ndlovu concurred with the HWT submissions saying in light of the dire water situation in the city, there was need to protect and prohibit the construction on wetlands to preserve the water sources.

“I do not think it is sustainable to continue building on wetlands. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been very clear on the need to protect our wetlands and we also need to enforce the legislation that we have to make sure we protect our wetlands. We will make our best efforts to bring critical stakeholders to the table so that we come up with an agreed position on wetlands protection,” he said.

Legislators have been urging the government to urgently launch a countrywide crackdown on developments on wetlands and to censure EMA for failing to act.

BY PRAISEMORE SITHOLE

A BULAWAYO woman has appeared in court charged with physical abuse after she allegedly stabbed her husband in a dispute over popular musician Jah Prayzah (pictured)’s show.

Rebecca Manzini (18) of Entumbane in Bulawayo is being charged with domestic violence after she allegedly attacked her husband, Jeffreys Gumbuti (33) with a broken bottle. This was after the woman had refused to go back home in Mbalabala with her husband because she wanted to attend the popular musician’s show which had been scheduled for later that day.

Manzini was not asked to plead to the charge when she appeared before magistrate Nomasiko Ndlovu on Monday. She was remanded to December 9 on $100 bail.

The court heard that on November 29 at around 1 o’clock in the afternoon, Gumbuti arrived home from Mbalabala only to discover that his wife was not around. He waited for her but she did not show up.

It is the State’s case that Gumbuti then went to a farm inputs shop in the city centre where he bumped into Manzini who was in the company of her younger sister.

Gumbuti allegedly advised Manzini that they should both go back home, but the latter refused saying she wanted to attend Jah Prayzah’s show at the Homestead Hall in Bulawayo.

Gumbuti advised Manzini’s younger sister to stop misleading the latter.

The court heard that Manzini suddenly ran amok and stabbed Gumbuti on the left side of the neck with a broken beer bottle.

Gumbuti sustained injuries as a result of the attack and was taken to hospital for treatment. A report was made to the police, leading to Manzini’s arrest.

BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA

The late former President Robert Mugabe’s nephew, Albert has been fired as Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) board chairperson.

He was replaced by board member and Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority boss, Gift Machengete in an acting capacity.

According to a reliable source, Mugabe was fired last month on allegations of abuse of office dating back to the days when he was the Zinara chairperson, amid allegations that he was linked to the G40 faction in Zanu PF.

In an interview on the sidelines of Remembrance Day commemorations in Chivhu, Transport and Infrastructure Development minister Joel Biggie Matiza confirmed that Mugabe was no longer TSCZ chairperson, claiming he resigned on his own.

“It is true, we now have a new board chairperson in an acting capacity. I also confirm that he (Mugabe) resigned recently,” Matiza said.

NewsDay was also reliably informed that government refused to renew the employment contract of former TSCZ managing director Obio Chinyere with the search for a new boss now on.

Meanwhile, Machengete said during the festive season, 20 teams, including police officers, have been set up to do educational awareness across the country.

An average of 2 000 people perish on the country’s roads each year with most casualties occurring during the festive season.

BY PRECIOUS CHIDA

HARARE City Council has only managed to refurbish a 10km stretch of the targeted 545km road network across the city and blames the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) for underfunding the project.

Council’s finance and economic development committee chairperson, Luckson Mukunguma said the local authority was having problems getting money from Zinara, adding it would have been easy if Harare was administering the funds as before.

“We constantly requested more funds to implement road works but Zinara did not respond positively to our pleas,” Mukunguma said.

“The state of our roads remains deplorable and this year we managed to do only 10km of the targeted 545km, then in terms of preventive maintenance we did only 18km of the targeted 585km.”

The Zimbabwe National Roads Act recognises Zinara as the sole administrator of the roads fund. It took over the task from local authorities in 2009.

Since Zinara’s takeover, council has dismally failed to repair its worn-out roads.

With the city boasting a vehicle population of more than 450 000, council said had it be the one managing the licensing portfolio, they would have been able to maintain and construct new roads.

“Subject to confirmation, the vehicle population in Harare is way over 450 000 and if the city was managing the vehicle licensing portfolio on its own, we would be able to carry out road construction and major maintenance works,” Mukunguma said.

Zinara has reportedly stopped direct disbursements of road maintenance funds to local authorities following allegations of abuse and misappropriation of funds by some councils.

Zinara has, however, been caught in massive scandals involving millions of dollars.

Recently, council’s human resources committee chairperson Jacob Mafume said Zinara was supposed to remit some revenue to the council to enable construction and refurbishment of roads.

“Zinara must bring back our money so that we build our roads and sufficiently pay our workers,” he said.

As a mitigatory measure, council is proposing a 20% infrastructure development levy on all new developments to fund road programmes.

Acting Zinara chief executive officer, Saston Muzenda, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

LORRAINE MUROMO/TAFADZWA MHLANGA

The World Bank has urged government to practise transparent and consistent reporting, expand gender diversity and to reduce political interference in the operations of State-Owned Entities (SOEs).

This comes as government has provided wrong figures of financial aid provided by the Chineese and US governments.

In its 2020 national budget, Treasury reported that China had given US$3 881 500 in aid this year which was later disputed by the Chinese government which claimed to have provided US$136,8 million.

And now it has also emerged that in the same budget, Zimbabwe claimed to have received US$252 722 653 aid from the US, but the US government says it extended aid amounting to US$334,4 million.

Speaking at the launch of the Public Entities Corporate Governance Act in Harare yesterday, World Bank governance general manager Nicola Smithers (pictured) said the Harare adminstration should encourage the separation of roles between itself and the management boards of SOEs.

“With reference to the European SOEs, we can adopt some few lessons from them; reduced political interference into the operation of the SOEs, gender diversity, transparency and consistent reporting will see the implementation of this Act possible and will see the SOEs flourishing,” she said.

“There should also be an effective separation of roles between the government and the management for the SOEs to operate effectively.”

She added that there should be an effective monitoring and transparency on the financial and service delivery performance of the SOEs to create value for society.

The newly promulgated Act, funded by the Zimbabwe Reconstruction Fund and the World Bank, seeks to improve the internal management structures of parastatals and other public entities, leading to the improvement of their performance. It will come into operation on a date to be fixed by the President.

European Union ambassador to Zimbabwe, Timo Olkkonen, said he supported the implementation of the Act.

“We are in full support of the Act and it is now up to Zimbabweans themselves. Zimbabweans need this form of a game changer and I hope it will earmark some changes in the financial management of public funds,” he said.

Finance minister, Mthuli Ncube officially launched the Act saying that public entities needed to play their part in reviving the economy.

“It is, therefore, important that good corporate governance is instilled in public entities in order to ensure that good governance systems are put in place for the good of the country. Good governance is the key to public accountability and a precondition for creating trust in the government,” he said. Ncube added that well-governed SOEs have a positive impact not only on the country’s budget but on the public’s perception of the government and would also boost investor confidence.