BY PATRICIA SIBANDA

HWANGE villagers are losing livestock to lions that are roaming the Jambezi area, with fears of possible attacks on humans rising.

Chief Mvutu confirmed that lions were terrorising the area and called on authorities to intervene.

“The place where this is happening is called Ndlovu area and the animals are feasting on . . . livestock. It is so sad because there is nothing we can do about the wild animals and besides we have nothing we can use to stop them from coming near our homesteads,” Sibanda said.

Sibanda said villagers were not allowed to kill the carnivores so their numbers keep growing.

“There are laws that restrict us from killing or striking any wild animal. If only it was long back we would not be having such incidents occurring,” he said.

He advised villagers to report such matters to the responsible authorities.

Chief Jonah Neluswi Shana said elephants were a problem in his area.

He said Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) officials who recently came to assess the area put down a stray elephant.

“The elephants are raiding our fields and eating everything, our bulrush millet which was ripening was destroyed,” he said.

ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo said the problem was with the people who direct their livestock into restricted areas.

“The people are driving their livestock straight into forestry areas. People should try by all means not to allow their domestic animals into restricted areas. Lions and elephants live in the bush hence one will definitely find them there if they visit such places,” Farawo said, while urging villagers to report all wild animal sightings.

BY GARIKAI MAFIRAKUREVA

SHANGANI community members in Chikombedzi have accused non-Shangani speaking people of elbowing them out of and hijacking developmental programmes, allegedly with the blessing of government officials.

Raising concerns at a community radio stations sensitization workshop held at Chikombedzi Primary School in Chiredzi South constituency over the weekend, the Shangani expressed displeasure at the amount of time allotted to Shangani programmes on national radios compared to Shona and Ndebele.

Director of the Centre for Cultural Development Initiatives – Gaza Trust, Hebert Phikela, asked the Information permanent secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana, who was also facilitating the meeting why Shangani was given a small slot on radio.

Mangwana said the government’s initiative to issue licences to 10 language-based community radio stations was to correct the wrongs of the country’s former colonial masters who bundled minority languages into generic languages like Shona, Ndebele and Manyika.

“We are trying to correct the imbalance that was created by our former colonial masters. That is why we want you to have your own Shangani radio station,” Mangwana said.

“We have 16 official languages, but during the colonial era the Smith regime grouped minority languages under common languages depending on the area’s geographical position. The Kalangas, Tongas, Nambiyas and others fell under Matebeland even if we all know that they are not Ndebeles.”

However, Phikela felt the imbalances will continue to exist because other Shangani-speaking people are dotted around the country and will not be able to access Shangani frequency broadcasting from Chikombedzi.

On the issue of hijacked programmes, Mangwana said the government has no control over what would have been given to the community except if they were policy matters.
“If as a community you fail to organise yourselves and come up with a radio station run by your own people; where do you think the government should come in? As a ministry we will only intervene on policy matters,” he said.

The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) legal adviser, Joice Kupukai then unpacked the legal requirements to be met before the issuance of a broadcasting licence. Another BAZ official, Thabeth Mazorodze explained to the participants, who included community leaders, village heads and chiefs representatives, what content compliance is all about.

Most parts of Chiredzi border Mozambique and South Africa, and cannot access the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s radio and television transmission and rely on stations from either Mozambique or South Africa.

BY PATRICIA SIBANDA

BULAWAYO City Council has been operating without a credit control and debt collection policy document and relies on council resolutions which has compromised revenue collection, Finance director Kempton Ndimande has said.

The local authority has been failing to collect debts from ratepayers.

“The financial director (Ndimande) reported that council had been operating without a documented credit control and debt collection policy. It had been relying on council resolutions, the Urban Councils Act, the water and sewerage by-laws and other pieces of legislation. A credit policy had been crafted with valuable input from the chamber secretary, human capital department and the procurement management unit,” the minutes read.

Latest figures show that BCC is owed over $189 million by ratepayers, including government departments and the private sector, a situation it says has negatively impacted on service delivery.

However, the latest council minutes indicate that ward 19 councillor Alderman Clayton Zana had pointed out that the credit control and debt collection policy was taking too long to be implemented.

Zana claimed that ratepayers were committed to settling bills which called for the urgent implementation of the debt collection policy.

“The reason why residents had not been paying their debts is because of the delay in implementing the policy. Residents take advantage of the economic situation and have stopped paying their debts,” Zana told council.

Finance committe chairperson councillor Mlandu Ncube said debtors should be engaged before the implementation of the policy.

“The policy idea has always been there, so debtors should be engaged before the implementation to avoid any inconveniences with them,” the minutes read.

BCC chamber secretary Sikhangele Zhou and council legal officer Stekiwa Mugiya said the credit policy would help avoid accumulation of debt.

“It provides uniformity, clarity and transparency,” Zhou said.

She hoped that the policy would address all classes of debtors, saying adopting the policy would avoid unmanageable accumulation of debts and also protect residents against unfair treatment by some office bearers.

“The wording of clause 61 of the policy created a condition precedent to the assumption of office by a councillor or and this would be revisited to reflect the desire to have the councillor maintain up to date accounts while in office,” minutes read.

Bulawayo town clerk Christopher Dube seconded the adoption of the policy and confirmed that it would cater for all groups who include the vulnerable.

“Council was not able to deliver services effectively because there was no credit policy in place. The revenue collection was very poor. The challenge had been that ratepayers who had the capacity to pay did not want to pay their debts. Those who had been paying timeously were no longer paying. It was now a requirement that council should have such a policy,” Dube
said, according to the minutes.

INTERVIEW:VENERANDA LANGA

TAG a Life International (TaLI) director Nyaradzo Mashayamombe (NM) says she would not sit and watch while the rights of the girl child continue to be trampled upon, and while young girls continue to be forced into early child marriages by adults. She talks to NewsDay (ND) senior Parliamentary reporter Veneranda Langa.

ND: Who is Nyaradzo Mashayamombe and what is your work centred on?

NM: Nyari Mashayamombe is passionate about justice, fairness, is interested in community building and to see families thriving. My work on girls, young women’s rights and youths is centred on the realisation that for communities to thrive, we need to begin with the roots, and the roots are the youths. In Shona they say “gavi rinobva kumasvuuriro” meaning if you miss the roots on anything you won’t achieve much. So the girl child is the most vulnerable in our communities due to both religious and cultural practices that ensure that at a very young age, a girl is rewarded for opportunities passing her by.

We hear words like “good girl” or “good woman”, which often means a person who is not vocal, who people can walk all over, a person when hit by her husband must keep quiet, a person who should not lean in to opportunities. So I realised that girls need to be assisted in realising that this is a lie that ensures they are going to be left behind in life and increase their vulnerabilities. So this is my passion.

I was born in a family of eight children and I am the last. My rural background and challenges while growing up shaped me to care about others, especially girls and to want to help.

Nyari is not only a Human Rights Activist; she’s also a businesswoman with a company called Identities Media Holdings, as well as a singer and song writer. I also like to refer to myself as a global citizen.

ND: What is Tag a Life International (TaLI) all about and what kind of issues do you address?

NM: TaLI is a girls and young women’s organisation that wishes to see the world as a safe place where we are treated equally, have access to the same opportunities and where girls have the autonomy to make decisions about their own lives. TaLI is working for a world where girls and young women have a voice, are able to exercise their own agency, claim their rights, assist others to do the same while building movements to influence leadership.

Our current work includes developing girls and young women into leaders through the Leadership Economic Mentorship Hub (LEMHs), a one-year leadership programme which trains them in personal leadership, human rights, democracy and governance, change making and working with local leaders in their communities. We do this while linking girls with real advocacy work and interacting with Members of Parliament exposed to our world of networks.

One example of the critical work TaLI does is around advocacy and influencing laws that protect girls and young women as well as the youths. Just recently TaLI influenced a policy through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to ensure every child has access to basic education. Informed by community needs, we engaged with leadership locally, regionally and internationally.

Another critical component of our work is the provision of psycho-social support to victims of abuse. TaLI has linked more than 350 girls and young women with post trauma support such as medical services, basic counselling, police, supporting them through court, family reintegration and other referrals.

ND: How do you view children’s rights in Zimbabwe?

NM: We have seen some improvements, but we could do more in prioritising children’s rights in our nation. By now basic education should be secured and delivered on. The budget for education is mainly going to teachers and personnel salaries and little towards children’s education. Right now the justice system is not necessarily assisting girls and young women on vulnerabilities such as rape and instances where older men take advantage of and make them wives at a young age.

Currently the police force is not exactly moved by 15 or 16-year-old girls who they say are “consenting” to getting married to older men. The role of the police must be to nullify such “child sexual exploitation and abuse” which is being masqueraded as “child marriages”. The justice system is also corrupt giving sentences as little as three months or community service for older men who are bedding minors and exploiting them as wives.

ND: Your organisation has done a lot of advocacy work on the rights of the girl child. How successful have you been in empowering the girl child? What are the problem areas?

NM: For us it is about tagging one life at a time. There are more than 1 000 girls who we have trained since we started, more than 800 boys who we also trained to be champions of girls, more than 800 community peer educators who we trained to educate and raise awareness in their communities on girls rights are a testimony. Due to resources, we may not be able to go everywhere, but we believe when one life is tagged — that we have touched another 100 as we know they will touch others. And as we have now elevated our work to fighting for the rights of girls such as education, the more than 500 000 children we know, about 52% to be girls will never be the same again. Funding remains a key challenge.

ND: You have also fought for access to education for all children including the poor who cannot afford school fees. Have you made any inroads in convincing the government to respect constitutional rights to education?

NM: As you will know we just successfully advocated for a policy the “Secretary’s Circular 3 of 2019” which came out as a result of TaLI efforts and amazing leadership of MPs such as Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga who pushed Parliament for us to be heard. The listening ear and the changing attitudes in the ministry of Education and the support we got from former Primary and Secondary Education minister Paul Mavima, and especially ministry’s secretary and woman of action Tumisang Thabela, the rights of children to access education were made possible. There was also unwavering support of organisations passionate about children’s rights such as Zimbabwe National Coalition on the Rights of the Child, Justice For Children, Mambure Trust, Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe and Education Coalition of Zimbabwe, among many children’s rights organisations that rallied behind us in achieving this policy. We have really depended on the support of global partners such as Global Fund for Women, Urgent Action Fund Africa and CIVICUS to achieve this policy.

ND: You are also very outspoken on women’s rights and in the fight against gender-based violence. What kind of situations have you encountered as a women’s rights activist?

NM: I generally grew up in a very challenging rural community, and there things were worse for girls. I have had to fight for my own life and make adult decisions at an early age so that I would not be taken advantage of by a male teacher who proposed love to me. I have also endured violence at the hands of relatives for the work that I do, but the work must be done, and no girl, woman, child or male should endure violence; we should all live in harmony.

ND: What can you say have been your challenges as an activist?

NM: It think they are on many levels; doing the work is challenging because you are challenging power, those who are exerting illegal power over others through abuse will want to continue in doing this.

Thus I become their enemy. But also one gets socially stigmatised as people become super sensitive around you both at home and sometimes within the religious circles. It’s a hard job.

BY SILAS NKALA

A DETECTIVE stationed at Chivhu Police Station was on Saturday fatally shot while in pursuit of an armed robbery suspect, who was wanted in connection with carjacking incidents that occurred in Bulawayo and Kadoma recently.

According to a police internal memorandum, the shooting occurred at midday while a team of law enforcement agents comprising four detectives from Bulawayo and five from Chivhu CID pursued the suspect identified as Musa Denge (43).

“On February 8, 2020, a team from CID Vehicle Theft Squad Bulawayo led by Detective Assistant Inspector Gadza . . . reported at CID Chivhu. The team was on a follow up of information of an accused person Mussa Denge (43) who was wanted for robbery of motor vehicles which occurred in Bulawayo and Kadoma,” the memo read.

“The officer-in-charge CID Chivhu gave the team backup of five detectives to track down the accused person. The team observed the accused person driving a Toyota Wish Silver registration AAF 7378 from town going to Chivhu location.”

The memo states that the team, with one of the detectives armed with an AK rifle, followed Denge to number 10 Chivhu. “The team disembarked from their vehicle in pursuit of the accused person and (the armed detective) was firing warning shots at the same time,” the memo read.

The memo states that the late detective constable who could not be named as his next of kin are yet to be informed was the first to get to Denge and was shot on the pelvis as he was about to grab him.

Denge was arrested and the injured detective was rushed to Chivhu General Hospital where he later died.

Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the shooting incident yesterday, saying: “It is sad that we have lost a police officer. We are investigating an incident where a police officer was shot and injured during a raid at a house on Saturday afternoon. The suspect was, however, arrested and the police officer was rushed to Chivhu Hospital where he died.”

BY Phyllis Mbanje

The National Aids Council (Nac) Bulawayo provincial manager Sinatra Nyathi has raised concern over the deaths of people with HIV and Aids who stopped taking antiretroviral drugs after being told to do so by faith healers and “prophets”.

Nyathi said the issue was slowing down mitigatory programmes which sought to stem further spread of the disease as well as prolong lives of those infected.

“I was saddened to witness the deaths of about five people who I knew personally who succumbed to the disease after being told to stop medication by their prophets,” Nyathi told NewsDay recently.

“Although Nac has been working with churches in their interventions there remained a big headache (given) the mushrooming of new churches which are led by these prophets and faith healers.

“We are urging people on antiretroviral therapy (Art) not to throw away their drugs. We are currently raising awareness in the communities.”

Although she could not provide statistics on the number of people who have died after defaulting, Nyathi said any death linked to this was an issue of concern.

She also said while they had nothing against prayer, their worry was on patients being discharged from taking medication in the absence of a qualified doctor.

“We are not saying people should not pray, but patients must continue taking their medication as prescribed by their doctors,” Nyathi said.

Defaulting on Art often leads to viral resistance, treatment failure and increased risks of disease progression.

Last year it was reported that about 4 000 HIV positive people in Bulawayo were on second and third line Art after defaulting from the recommended first line regimen.

“There is need for further engagement with the faith-based organisations and impress upon them the need to ensure that those on Art are allowed to do so without any interruptions,” Nyathi said.

Previously there have been many false claims on cures for Aids. In 2018 leader and founder of the PHD Ministries Walter Magaya announced his controversial HIV and Aids herbal remedy, Aguma.

He was widely condemned for prematurely announcing cure before seeking government clearance.

He was subsequently charged with contravening section 40(1) of the Medicines and Allied Substances Control Act, which criminalises the distribution of unapproved medicines and misleading advertisement of such.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe is working towards ensuring that by end of this year, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status, receive sustained Art and have viral suppression.

BY EVERSON MUSHAVA

THE deteriorating political and economic climate in Zimbabwe, coupled with the manipulation of the judiciary through constitutional amendments and selective prosecutions are creating a difficult environment for justice in Zimbabwe, an expert has said.

Addressing a third edition of the reparations dialogue organised by the National Transitional Justice Working Group (NTJWG) recently, the lobby group’s reparations and rehabilitation thematic group leader Frances Lovemore said worsening economic and political challenges were threatening the work of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC).

“The risk of developing partisan and exclusionary processes still remains extremely high, until there is genuine political dialogue, any definitive reparation process runs the risk of increasing rather than eliminating the conflict,” Lovemore said.

She was deliberating on the topic, Zimbabwe’s Official and Non-official Experience on Reparations and Rehabilitation.

Zimbabwe has a long history of conflict and violence dating back to the colonial era, with the most prominent being Gukurahundi during which 20 000 people in the Matabeleland and Midlands regions were killed between 1983 and 1987 according to human rights groups.

Failure by government to acknowledge human rights abuses and protect citizens from violence has created a legacy of festering wounds, thereby impeding on safe reparation programmes in the country, Lovemore noted.

Millions of victims of violence in Zimbabwe have been denied access to the truth and reparation process, a situation that resulted in the formation of NTJWG six years ago to lobby for transitional justice, she said.

“The line between victimhood and perpetration is very easy line to cross where impunity prevails, and this is an issue with the State commission (NPRC) should be continually seized with, particularly in the current rapidly deteriorating economic situation, diminished resources and delayed justice.”

Lovemore said the impunity associated with violence against citizens in a country not in an armed conflict has enabled the vicious cycle to continue and escalate regularly when power and access to resources such as land and minerals are threatened.

She said the failure by government to manage genuine reconciliation has diminished citizens’ trust in electoral and civil processes with fear and intimidation remaining tools of repression by the State and non-State actors.

According to NTJWG, physical violence perpetrated against the civilian population by both State and proxies supported by the State structures has encompassed systematic extra-judicial killings of up to 10 000 people, enforced disappearances, abductions of over 7 000 people and organised torture and violence against tens of thousands of people both rural and urban.

Land conflict, Lovemore said, and political conflict as well as mineral resources conflict and access to economic projects have resulted in the precipitation of physical violence often with lethal consequences.

A national programme on reparations, Lovemore said, must be victims-centred to ensure that the victims of State-sponsored and organised violence receive psycho-social support for a good national mental health.

She said to facilitate a real reparation process the use of militia and vigilante behaviour should be outlawed, a genuine political settlement and depolarisation with removal of political competition executed in the legal system and a genuine return to the rule of law with regard to deployment of the security sector in protecting both national and sub-national political power.

The dialogue was also attended by top Columbian reparations expert, Paula Gaviria, who shared the Colombian experience and how Zimbabwe could benefit from it.

Gaviria served as the director of Colombia’s Reparations Programme in the Office of President Juan Manuel Santos in 2012 and managed to conduct what scholars have described as the world’s biggest reparation programme under her tenure.

She said Zimbabwe should adopt a victim-centred approach that is all inclusive.