Category: Citizen Files

Traditional chiefs and their sub-chiefs were very busy during this past festive season. They were guests of honour at many tradition functions. Their presence was a blessing to whichever family holding such events.

One such event was held at Chipikiri homesteads on Monday, the 11th of August. Present were village heads Tarungamiswa and Tadziripa together with other neighbouring village heads. Sub-chief Charamba and his aid Dhoro graced the occasion.

However, they don’t officiate for free, that is when they get zvirigo. Zvirigo are tokens of appreciations due to chiefs from their subjects. At memorial services, one would be showing gratefulness to the leader for his presence and his availing of a piece of land on which they bury their relative.

Amongst the things they request as zvirigo are six small clay pots full of the traditional brew, ”bandauko nezvishava”. Zvishava are different pieces of meat cut from different parts of the animal that would have been slaughtered at the function. These include part of the liver, abdomen, intestines and soft meat obtained under the thighs and the front legs. They carry with them back home, the bandauko (front leg) but other pieces are cooked on the function. They also require three quarts of clear beer and four soft drinks. The traditional beer is drunk on the function except for about 5litres he may carry to his home if the beer is good.

When he arrives he is received with ululations by women and clapping of hands (kurova manja or gusvi) by men. He sits out first before getting into a designated house. While still out, he is treated to a mumvuri washe. This is some beer that he must share with his subjects while cooling down. It is during this time that the subjects “vanokwidza maoko avashe”, that is asking for the well-being of the sub-chief. This is done while his immediate subject, his aide recites the sub-chief totem. Charamba is of the Moyo totem and Duma clan.

Actually the proceedings were very orderly and interesting. The sub-chief took about 4 hours with his subjects milling around different issues affecting the subjects.

This world is coming to an end. Evil riches in Bulawayo: Bring Zimbabwe dollar coins, kill your relative and get filthy rich.
Published on 16 August 2014, written by B-metro “Get rich or die trying ” . An attempt to live true to the above saying by joining the ongoing $5 coin craze will result in the death of family members. Investigations by this publication revealed that it does not only take a $5 coin for someone to get thousands of dollars and get rich , but there is more than what meets the eye.
When reporters visited one of the agencies only identified as Mutsago in Bulawayo’s Magwegwe North suburb under the disguise that they were in possession of coins on demand, she opened up to the crew on steps to be followed. It turned out that even if you had the coins ,one needs to think twice because it is only about the coins but there are also “sacrifices” involved.
Mutsago revealed that they were collecting old Zimbabwean coins which include $2 and $5 coins from the year 2000 and 2003 and the biggest package being on the penny .
“The money wanted is the $5, one with the pangolin, the $2 and the one their giving alot of money for is the penny of 1953 and 1980. You just bring that and you get rich like other people of your age and start driving your own cars”, said Mutago.
When the news crew showed interest in the coin dealings the old woman revealed how one goes about the issue. “I am not the one who collects the money, but i will have to take you to the people who are supposed to take it from your own hands. The money is to be taken from the owner not mine. They are foreigners responsible for this deal, therefore, one has to wait two weeks for the money because it is a process ”, she said. The shocking news is that when you surrender the money, you also have to give them the name of your spouse and children. If you are single, you give them the names of your favourite family members.
“After two weeks, do not expect to be given money in your hands, but when you go to collect it , you will be given a knobkerrie. You will be instructed to use the knobkerrie to kill a rat or frog, which you will come across in your house. Killing any of the will mark the beginning of your good life as you will start receiving money mysteriously. “We understand that when you kill the rat or frog , you would have killed one of the people on the list you submitted with the coins. That is all i know, it is up to you whether you are in or not”, said Mutsago.
On the other hand, two men from Luveve suburb who had submitted their $5 coins allegedly died after failing to follow instructions. They are said to have unfolded foil paper they had be given to keep for seven days before the time was up.

The reason for prostitution at universities, particularly Midlands State is the high cost of living. Many sub-standard hostels have been constructed which accommodate 8 or so individuals and in this dying economy students are expected to pay rentals which are equivalent or even more than those being paid to the high density suburb nearest to the institution. This mainly being Senga and Nehosho.
This environment pushes students to look for rich sugar daddies and mommies in and around Gweru for financial support so they can pay for their accommodation and food etc. This leads to serious competition especially amongst the ladies to keep up appearances

Munyaradzi Gunhu escaped death by a whisker when he got the the beating of his life at ABLOV Bottle Store. It is alledged that Merilyn Tabva , ex-wife to Gunhu who is employed at ABLOV as a barmaid was having an affair with Cnst Shau of Bikita ZRP. The affair has developed so open that it offended Gunhu who frequents the place for some holy water, because of jealousy Gunhu felt resulting in him attacking Merilyn accusing her of falling in love and betraying their marriage with Shau. There was a nasty verbal exchange which attracted Shau’s attention. In trying to understand why his name was being quoted, Gunhu became throwing fists at him ,a passerby Charles Magariro tried to stop the fight but could not. Shau in return started kicking Gunhu who had fallen to the ground until his body lay lifelessly on the ground. He was hurried to the hospital where he is recovering and Shau was arrested and spent a night behind bars

Madzibaba Thomas Katena from Seke 1 village Murehwa is prophesying and healing people in his area. He started prophesying at 15 years of age which is a very young age for such.
Many people from different places gather at Thomas’ masowe seeking help but the surprising thing is that Thomas is actually doing his ‘O’level at Chemhondoro school. Thomas is an orphan who lives with his younger brother and so far the church members have been helping him to build a house and also donate building material to assist in this process. Again church members who have been healed give him food and clothes.

Sister-sister savings group is moving very well so far and it currently consists of 18 members. The group was formed in September 2013 with the help of media centre, from September 2013 to June 2014 the group managed to raise US$3000 and the money is shared between them as there had been an agreement in June. The group again started the savings in June, but the idea was to raise capital for farming inputs this time.They agreed the inputs were to be bought on the first of November. The sister-sister group is fully registered and the constitution was drafted by the members of the group but the major problem the group is facing is that 4 males joined the group and they want a name change since the group is sister -sister to mean ladies only. Most people in the group started their projects from this as a source of getting money. Each person who borrows money from the group will return a 20 percent interest each month. The person who borrows money should be a member of the group but the very good thing is that most people in the group are youths. Youths find it better to join savings than to apply loans in banks. Since prossesing loans will take a long time and a lot of things are required like colateral security and quotations.

Having realised that the road to access Chirumba High was now very bad for both locals and visitors the school staff and students went out to mend the access road. Chirumba High, situated 10km from Nyika Growth Point, is a Bikita Rural District Council school. The major question many people would
ask is that who actually is responsible for the maintenance of these access roads to schools, hospitals and many other public places. From the government’s statutes, the roads are a prerogative of the local
authorities. It is common knowledge that our local authorities collects levies from communities. One then wonders why they fail to attend to these very important roads. As if this is not enough, students learning time is lost while doing the job that these authorities should do. It is time that as residents, we should seek accountability of funds the local authorities collect from residents.