BY CHELSEA MUSAFARE

CHIPAWO will on Friday hold a memorial service in honour of the late legendary playwright Stephen Chifunyise for his love for children, who he believed to be the country’s best ambassadors.

Chipawo manager Chipo Basopo told NewsDay Life & Style yesterday that Uncle Steve — as Chifunyise was popularly known in theatre circles — had children at heart.

“The children will talk about their memories of him and read out stories they remember especially from his book Takura and the Talking Branch,” she said.

Basopo said the children will be drawn from Harare, Seke and Bindura and will showcase plays, including Tawanda and the Mystery Dance, Health Project and Takura and the Talking Branch at Theatre in the Park in Harare.

Running under the theme It’s a Time with Uncle Steve Memorial Show, the free-of-charge memorial will include dances, story-telling and the staging of short plays written by Chifunyise.

Over 100 children from different schools, including Alfred Beit and Haig Park Primary School will attend the memorial.

Chipawo, in partnership with New Horizon Theatre Company, has started an initiative to stage at least one play by the late veteran thespian at Theatre in the Park every month.

Chifunyise was the founder of Chipawo and the principal of the Zimbabwean Academy of Arts Education for Development. He was also the chairperson of Chipawo up to the time of his death.

A disturbing video clip of a fight that broke out at a community borehole in one of Harare’s high density suburbs over a chance to fetch water attracted laughter and a string of jokes on social media.

BY PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI

But beyond the laughter and fun, it spoke to something more serious and tragic as it was emblematic of the water crisis that has gripped Harare as the city has been battling to supply clean potable water to residents.

Residents who spoke to NewsDay said the water shortages have particularly been acute this year, with many boreholes that had served as a safety net during prolonged spells of water rationing having dried up.

The development has left residents in a tight spot. Abigail Makore, a mother of four in the sprawling suburb of Budiriro, said access to clean water has become a major challenge.

She said they have not had access to running water for three years, and have had to rely on borehole water, which was now running out as the dry season deepened.

“It looks like we are on our own and those that are supposed to help us don’t seem to care,” she said.

Makore’s sentiments – which resonated with those of many other residents –are a serious indictment on the city fathers who seemed overwhelmed by the call to duty at a time access to other services had become increasingly illusive. She said it was painful that she dutifully paid rates to the city, but there have been no corresponding action from the city fathers in terms of service delivery.

“We are paying for a service that is not there. Our borehole has now virtually run out of water so we are in trouble,” she said.

Although several houses in the neighbourhood have boreholes, many of them have since dried up and given the apathy by the municipality, many residents are praying for a divine rescue, with hopes that they would be bountiful rains this year to fill up the boreholes and wells once again.

“At least there is hope after we had a few rains last week,” said Tapson Makuvire of Kuwadzana.

“My borehole was almost running out and we could only get one 20-litre bucket of water, but now it’s better after the rains.”

Urban planning expert, Harvey Muronda, said the water challenges demonstrate urban planning failure on the part of the city authorities. He said the city population has been growing exponentially over the last 20 years but without corresponding expansion of resources and infrastructure to accommodate the burgeoning number of residents.

“Our city planners should have been more forward-looking because it is the nature of cities and towns to grow over time in terms of population. Such growth exerts pressure on the available water infrastructure, which would have been designed for a smaller population,” he said.

“This is one of the key challenges we have seen in Harare. If there have been any efforts to expand the water infrastructure, then it has been nowhere near the rate of the population growth.”

Muronda said the fact that many residents have resorted to digging their own boreholes, especially in high density suburbs, was a serious indictment on those tasked to manage the country’s cities.

He said it was abnormal to have residents dig up boreholes in a city with piped water infrastructure.

“The city authorities should be embarrassed, really. The fact that residents have resorted to digging their own boreholes quite clearly demonstrates, beyond anything else, that the city managers have failed.”

Observers attribute the city’s failure to provide a basic service such as water to the endemic corruption and mismanagement of the city. In his 2020 National Budget presentation last week, Finance minister Ntuli Ncube cited corruption – which has not spared local authorities across the country – as the leading cause economic malaise and wastage of public resources.

“Based on the Auditor General’s Report, Government is losing resources through corrupt activities.

In addition, corruption in some parastatals and Local Authorities has compromised some desired development outcomes,” he said.

Harare Residents Trust spokesperson Precious Shumba said corruption has contributed the water management failure in the capital.

“What is not working is the costly arrangements for the provision of water treatment chemicals, involving monopolies and South Africa-based companies, created an artificial barrier to the efficient costing of water treatment chemicals and their supplies,” he said.

“The result of those boardroom elitist arrangements makes the US$2.5 million monthly payment for water treatment chemicals a deal most beneficial to a few officials, councillors and Local Government bureaucrats. The HRT believes that what is said to be the cost of water treatment chemicals is inflated, unreasonable and a criminal abuse of the procurement system. This is our major problem.”

Shumba said although government and council were aware of the procurement dilemma, nothing concrete has been done to address the leakages, illegal connections and flawed procurement processes.

In their Water Crisis Fact Sheet No. 2 of 2019, the Zimbabwe Peace Project noted that there was a flagrant violation of Section 77 of the Constitution, which guarantees every citizen’s “right to safe, clean and potable water” and categorically says “the State must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within the limits of the resources available to it, to achieve the progressive realisation of this right.”

While central and local government have on several occasions cited lack of resources to provide services, the extent of the water challenges, virtually afflicting the entire city of Harare, has been a major cause for concern.

The Harare municipality has singled out foreign currency shortages as the reason for the shutdown, with deputy mayor, Enock Mupamawonde, recently urging the government to declare the water situation a national disaster. He said the local authority required at least $40 million (US$2.7 million) a month for water chemicals, against a revenue of $15 million collected every month.

Against this grim backdrop, water supply has become big business with some enterprising individuals with boreholes selling water to their neighbours for $1.50 per bucket.

Desperate residents, like Micheck Mapango of Zengeza 3, have been left with no choice but to purchase the water – an otherwise free resource among neighbours.

“It is really bad,” he said. “Now we have to include an additional cost to our monthly budget – and buying water from neighbours. I have not seen anything like this ever.”

Women and young girls have largely borne the brunt of the water crisis as they spend most of their days scrounging for the precious resource, with unconfirmed reports of men soliciting sexual favours from women so that they could easily access water at boreholes in some high density suburbs.

ZPP called upon the government and local authorities to ensure the right to water is protected and upheld.

In September this year, council spokesperson Michael Chideme said they appealed to the government to declare the water situation a State of Emergency.

“We are asking for a bailout, we are asking for the water situation to be declared an emergency or a disaster so that resources can be pooled together to address the issue. Some of the solutions will include the construction of new water sources like Kunzvi, Musami, Mazowe and Muda dams,” said Chideme. Shumba, however, said the city authorities were not being truthful.

“Their insistence on a new water source is their own way of denying responsibility for their absolute failure to deliver water to plus 60% of connected households. Evidence on the grounds suggests that there is sufficient water in Lake Chivero to supply Harare residents with water,” he said.

“What is not working is the costly arrangements for the provision of water treatment chemicals, involving monopolies and South Africa-based companies, created an artificial barrier to the efficient costing of water treatment chemicals and their supplies.”

Shumba said the identification of Kunzvi and Muda dams as alternative water sources would not be a magic wand that will wipe away the water woes overnight because “they will take five to 10 years to construct and start serving Harare residents.”

Shumba suggested the need to deal with “the cartels handling the procurement of water treatment chemicals, plugging leakages and thefts of water along the water distribution network, as well as safeguarding Harare’s wetlands” because their unregulated conversion into residential areas has worsened the water situation.

“Wetlands serve as the sponge that naturally purifies our water, but when the natural system is interfered with by politicians and bureaucrats desperate for money and to accumulate political gains, sustainable development is hindered,” he said.

The city torched a storm in 2014 after management used part of the US$144,4 million loan received from China in 2010 for water and sewerage reticulation to buy 25 luxury cars, which include Land Rovers and Range Rovers.

The then mayor, Bernard Manyenyeni, told a full council back then: “Every day we are waking up to surprises, the deal continues to be too cloudy to be ignored. There are reports that council bought vehicles using funds from the water project. We cannot continue to ignore these reports, we have to do something about them.” Last month, President Emmerson Mnangagwa intervention to China over the outstanding US$72 million from the $144 million Harare Water and Sanitation Rehabilitation Facility from China-Exim Bank.

Speaking on the sidelines of a special council meeting, town clerk Hosiah Chisango said they were now working with government over the crisis.

“Our lack of capacity to repay the loans has been holding us back, but now that government said it is going to assist us pay part of the loans that is how we want to commence these deals.

Government said it can assist in the projects which are social ones,” he said.

Harare supplies water to the dormitory towns of Norton and Chitungwiza as well as Ruwa and Epworth. Of the current around 400 megalitres treated and pumped daily from Morton Jaffray Water Works, at least 60% is lost along the distribution network due to leakages and illegal connections although none of the implicated council officials have been brought to book.

THE MDC parliamentarians would like to set the record straight and correct certain misconceptions and innuendos that have arisen following the Budget presentation on Thursday, where we were not in attendance due to genuine issues that had been highlighted to the Speaker of the National Assembly, but which he decided not to disclose for reasons best known to himself.

Innocent Gonese,MDC secretary for Justice and Legal Affairs

For the record, the budget presentation is technically called in terms of Section 305 of the Constitution a statement of the estimated revenues and expenditures of the government in the next financial year, which must be presented to the National Assembly in the timeliness prescribed by the relevant section.

At this stage, it is merely a proposal and there is no debate on the date of presentation.

In fact, a post budget seminar is then held followed by committee consultations and these processes are usually held the following week after the presentation.

Traditionally, this has always been a ceremonial event that some Members of Parliament have chosen not to attend across the political divide, as one can equally follow it from the comfort of their homes and, in fact, due to space constraints members of the Senate follow proceedings from TV monitors placed in the chamber.

There has never been any issue about the non-attendance of anyone and it is in this context that the people of Zimbabwe must understand that the grandstanding in the National Assembly was motivated by reasons other than the purported disdain of proceedings by the genuine representatives of the people who are the MDC.

The truth of the matter is that we did not shortchange the electorate in any way, more particularly, because we had genuine reasons attending to the funeral of members of the party from Mashonaland East, who were involved in an accident.

The Speaker of the National Assembly was informed in writing by the Leader of the Opposition Tabitha Khumalo of the unavailability of the MDC parliamentarians and if he had any honour, he should have disclosed to the House and the nation at large that he was in receipt of such communication notwithstanding his misguided belief that he has power to decide and direct what members of a political party should do.

What is also critical to understand is that Members of Parliament are not compelled to attend any particular sitting and, in fact, there is no requirement to seek any prior approval and the letter was merely written as a matter of courtesy. It’s only if one misses 21 consecutive sittings without prior approval of the presiding officer that the relevant House can proceed to make a resolution to declare the seat vacant as provided for in terms of Section 129(f)of the Constitution.

If anything, the Speaker is guilty of double standards as he has not shown the same enthusiasm to deal with errant ministers, who violate the peremptory provisions of Section 107, which compel them to attend Parliament to answer questions and in their case the Standing Orders actually provide for contempt charges to be brought against them in terms of Standing Order No 63 of the National Assembly.

The hypocrisy and machinations of the Zanu PF chief whip Pupurai Togarepi, who never says anything meaningful in Parliament is exposed as he has never stood up for the institution of Parliament when ministers, who not only flagrantly breach constitutional provisions, but also our own rules which are sacrosanct and must be binding as the Bible is on us Christians.

We reiterate that there is no provision in either the Constitution or our rules which require the compulsory attendance of the Members of Parliament, but such rules exist for ministers. But as the people’s representatives, we acquitted ourselves very well at the processes prior to the presentation of the Budget and we will be articulating the people’s concerns using the subsequent processes.

BY PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI

BEAUTY queen Blessing Mutamba (pictured) — who is also Miss Ireland International 2019 — is set to embark on a homecoming tour of Zimbabwe early next year during which she will explore opportunities to work with the local business community and young people seeking opportunities.

Mutamba told NewsDay Life & Style yesterday that her passion for her country has compelled her to consider making positive contributions to its development, and she was both excited and overwhelmed by the journey she has embarked upon.

“My platform is to advocate for young Zimbabweans either looking for a job or wanting to start a business mainly in Zimbabwe, but in the diaspora as well because that is where I have a lot of reach and visibility,” she said.

“It’s going to be exciting, but I am also really scared because it’s a really big project to organise from Ireland.”

Mutamba said she has been doing a lot of community outreach and mentorship programmes and supporting others, including Shift UK, at whose launch she was the guest speaker.

“Shift UK is a business forum for people of African heritage living in the UK and wanting to start a business,” the 23-year-old beauty said.

Mutamba, who was crowned Miss Ireland International in January this year, said she had a number of projects lined up and she was now taking a final step in the implementation of her entrepreneurial mentorship schemes as part of her homecoming tour next year.

“I am going to stop in Harare, Victoria Falls and Mutare where I am from. I was born there,” she said.

“I will do a lot of panel discussions with key industry players who I have started talking to and a lot of them are experts in their fields, key decision makers in the entertainment industry. I have rallied these together to understand what could be most beneficial for the youth of Zimbabwe to foster an environment that is conducive to do business and starting up.”

The beauty queen, who holds a Masters’ Degree in Entrepreneurship, said she will have several networking events to connect people together as part of her community outreach.

“I would want to talk to children in schools and other young people who are looking for opportunities,” she said.

“I will then use the information that I will collect to try and help solve some of the problems they face.”

Mutamba said she had teamed up with a number of stakeholders in Harare and Mutare and will capitalise on the growing popularity of beauty pageants in the country.

“It’s important for me to showcase that we are not just about being pretty on stage and looking good for one day,” she said.

OUTSPOKEN Ntabazinduna Chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni says he will file a court application today challenging his suspension as the traditional leader of the area at the weekend.

BY NQOBANI NDLOVU

Ndiweni was suspended by the Matabeleland North Chiefs council on grounds that his appointment was not in line with the Traditional Leaders Act since he was not the first born in his family.

He was removed as Ntabazinduna Chief during a Matabeleland North Chiefs’ provincial assembly meeting held in Bulawayo on Saturday.

The Matabeleland North traditional leaders argued that Ndiweni was illegally acting as a substantive Chief in violation of Nguni customs, practices and norms which recognise the eldest son in the family, Joram as the rightful heir to the throne.

“Those who suspended Chief Ndiweni on legitimacy grounds should know that ‘legitimacy’ is a very sensitive term in Zimbabwe. They should have found other reasons; and they should have made due diligence because it will back fire on them because we are approaching the courts on Monday,” Ndiweni’s spokesperson Nothiwani Dlodlo said yesterday.

“If the suspension of Chief Ndiweni is illegal, the reason behind his suspension should be applied to Chief Charumbira since he is also being challenged in court… This suspension is suspicious and will open a can of worms since 80% of the current serving Chiefs are being challenged, for example, Chief Samambwa in Midlands.”

According to the Constitution, “…the appointment, removal and suspension of Chiefs must be done by the President on the recommendation of the provincial assembly of Chiefs through the National Council of Chiefs and the Minister responsible for traditional leaders and in accordance with the traditional practices and traditions of the communities concerned.”

The late Ndebele paramount chieftainship has been a contentious issue since the death of Chief Khayisa Ndiweni in 2010 with Joram insisting that he is the rightful heir since he is the eldest son.

Joram filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court over five years ago seeking to block his brother Nhlanhlayamangwe from being installed as substantive chief.

Nhlanhlayamangwe’s installation has been postponed several times despite the late former President Robert Mugabe confirming that he is the substantive Chief.

In May 2018, he sought Mnangagwa’s intervention, his deputy Constantino Chiwenga, Chief Justice Juke Malaba and Shana in the Ntabazinduna chieftainship row.

He accused Zanu PF secretary for administration Obert Mpofu of throwing spanners in his way, accusing him of lobbying for his brother to be installed as Chief.

Ndiweni is an outspoken government critic, and accuses President Emmerson Mnangagwa of rigging his way to victory in the 2018 elections.

A CHIREDZI parent who reported a teacher to the District Schools Inspector (DSI) over alleged improper association with his daughter has accused authorities of covering up or being bribed to sweep cases under the carpet.

BY GARIKAI MAFIRAKUREVA

The parent (name withheld to protect the identity of the pupil) who caught his daughter red-handed in bed with her teacher said instead of finding solace in the new law banning such incidents, parents are now traumatised when the culprits walk away freely. He has since written a letter to the Primary and Secondary Education minister which he said he intends to hand over in person. This was after he reported Roddington Makuni Sithole, a teacher at Chingele Secondary School to Chiredzi DSI Petronella Nyangwe in March this year for having an affair with his 15-year-old daughter (name withheld), but the matter never saw the light of the day.

“I confronted him to stop his affair with my daughter. To my surprise two weeks later he approached me through a go-between seeking my daughter’s hand in marriage and to bribe me not to report him to his superiors at the district offices. His go-between was Hlayesi Chaveni from Tanzani Village just next to ours,” the aggrieved parent said.

“He paid R1 000 plus US$10. I made them both to sign and I recorded the whole proceeding before taking the audio and the papers they signed to the district offices to report my case. At the district offices I was told that the complaint was going to the province for disciplinary hearing, but after two months I was told the papers are back at the district offices for lack of evidence.

What evidence was needed?” he asked.

Nyangwe confirmed receiving the complaint, but said she had forwarded the matter to the Provincial Education Director (PED) for disciplinary hearing.

“Yes, I can confirm that we received such a complaint and we have forwarded it to our provincial offices. I assure you disciplinary action will be taken,” Nyangwe said.

Masvingo PED Zedius Chitiga denied receiving the report.

“I never saw that report. I will just do a routine check on the files, but I am sure I have never received such a report. By now a matter reported in March should have been concluded,” he said.

Sithole refused to comment, while his go between is said to have died last month. Primary and Secondary Education secretary Tumisang Thabela said they will only take action after receiving the complaint. Nyangwe is accused of covering up crimes by teachers in the district, including the one where Alice Mukanga, a school head, was convicted of bashing her subordinate Zivanayi Dekese and fined $80; as well as covering up the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council scam that saw teachers writing final examinations for their girlfriends.

BY RUTENDO MATANHIKE

PARLIAMENTARY Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education chairperson, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga has commended government for setting aside $200 million for procurement of sanitary ware for underprivileged women and girls across Zimbabwe.

She told NewsDay yesterday that while money being directed towards the cause could never be enough, she was happy that government had acknowledged the challenges faced by females particularly from less-privileged homes in accessing sanitary wear.

“No money can ever be enough in the provision of adequate sexual reproductive health care in the form of sanitary ware for women and girls, but for me the excitement is really about government finally acknowledging the problem women and young girls have been facing for a long time. This has been a war and I am glad has finally gotten the recognition it deserves,” she said.

Misihairabwi-Mushonga lobbied for the removal of import duty and value added tax (VAT) on sanitary ware which has proved expensive for many ordinary women with some resorting to unsafe alternative methods such as cow dung.

School going girls in rural areas are reported to be missing lessons during menstruation due to lack of proper sanitary ware.

The proportional representation legislator said the procurement process, as well engagements with the Finance ministry in finding sustainable sanitary ware, were underway.

“One of the conversations we have had with the Finance ministry is that we should not invest in buying disposable sanitary pads, but rather invest in sanitary pants for girls which have a life span of two years and also menstrual cups for women in order to promote sustainability, Misihairabwi-Mushonga said.

“We are already looking into the procurement process as we anticipate the approval of the budget at the end of November so that by the time we get into next year, distribution will be our (preoccupation). Some producers of these products have already indicated their plans in providing us with the sanitary ware we require.”

Plans are being made to distribute the products through independent channels to avoid corruption which may result in products not reaching intended beneficiaries, she revealed.

“We are thinking of not using government distribution channels to avoid cases of corruption which have been a major concern. We want the products getting to the people who really need them,” she said.

Responding to NewsDay on whether or not the hyperinflationary environment was a concern, Misihairabwi-Mushonga said early procurement of the products was important particularly considering sanitary ware was a non-perishable product.