Women seeking justice face archaic rules and discrimination

By Nyarai Mudimu

Deputy Minister for Women’s Affairs Fungayi Jessie Majome says legal protection for abused women remains a ‘pie in sky’. Credit:Angela Jimu/IPS

HARARE, Aug 3, 2011 (IPS) - The four armed robbers who gang raped her may be serving time for their crimes, but six years later justice has turned out to be a myth for Mildred Mapingure.

"No post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV was administered to me and there was no ‘morning-after pill’ to prevent pregnancy. I was tossed from office to office, meanwhile I was silently praying I was not pregnant," Mapingure told IPS from her rural home in Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe.

It is illegal to terminate a pregnancy in Zimbabwe unless the ‘pregnancy endangers the life of the mother and/or is a result of unlawful penetration (rape)’, according to the Termination of Pregnancy Act. And abortion is only allowed in the first trimester.

When Mapingure realised the inevitable had happened two months after being raped, prosecutors rushed the application for a termination of pregnancy order through the Chinhoyi regional magistrate’s court in Mashonaland West.

But long court delays resulted in the order being granted when she was eight months pregnant. Mapingure had no option but to give birth.

Four years later, and with the assistance of the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA), she has sued government for 52,000 dollars for wrongful birth and child maintenance.

"Until now, I am still waiting to hear the outcome of my case. And as my boy is growing up, his needs are also increasing. I am unemployed and not married but am still expected to provide for him. I haven’t paid this term’s school fees," said Mapingure.

She declined to discuss her feelings for her son at length, insisting she loved him despite the circumstances surrounding his conception.

But Mapingure’s case is not the only one of failed justice in this southern African country.

Director of ZWLA, Emilia Muchawa, told IPS that for anyone to access justice in Zimbabwe, resources and family support are paramount.

"In any jurisdiction, adequate finances are key for one to access court justice. In Zimbabwe, it is even more difficult for women to access justice because women neither have those resources nor do they have access to free legal aid. Courts are far-spaced making it worse for women seeking to get justice for whatever wrong they have suffered," she said.

She said the few brave women who have approached the courts for justice are hardly represented, while the men they seek justice against have legal representation because they can afford to hire lawyers.

"Court procedure and court language are a hindrance to women in Zimbabwe, the majority of whom are less educated than men. We have received reports of women who have been turned away at the entrance, before they have even lodged their cases, by mere court guards," Muchawa said.

Women are required to go to a magistrate’s court for maintenance order applications, the distribution of a deceased’s estate, custody and guardianship of minor children, and protection orders. Divorce and property distribution is done at the High Court

"After being turned away for simple things like court dress code (for wearing jeans, slacks, short dresses), most women never come back again. And because the courts are far removed from the general populace, bus fare becomes a hindrance," said Muchawa.

She said a woman’s family had to be supportive but, because of cultural beliefs and a conservative upbringing, most women face resistance when they seek justice through the courts.

In May a law officer in the Attorney General’s office, Wallen Chiwawa, accused his wife (whose name cannot be published because of a court order) of infidelity and physically tortured her.

However, ‘after a dialogue between their families’ she withdrew the charges.

"The case of Chiwawa’s wife is a good example of how women are pressurised by their families or communities to let culprits off the hook. Because of the docility of women, cultural pressures have presided over injustices they suffer mostly from these same families," said Muchawa.

Deputy Minister for Women’s Affairs Fungayi Jessie Majome, who is also a member of parliament and practicing lawyer, told IPS that court procedures and court officials who "carry patriarchal baggage remain a challenge for women who use courts to seek justice."

"Babies and children are not allowed in court. And most women who seek justice at the courts have suckling babies or toddlers whom they can’t leave alone," the deputy minister said.

She said she once represented a physically abused woman who ran away from her husband with her twin 10-month-old babies.

"She was not allowed in court with her babies as she sought a protection order. And this is just one woman who had me as a lawyer. What happens to the rest of the women like her?" asked Majome.

Besides that, women are required to pay administration fees to obtain protection orders in Zimbabwe. And in a country where, according to the World Bank, 96 percent of people are unemployed, this is difficult.

A protection order application form consists of 17 pages and an applicant is required to make four copies of it. The cost of photocopying that document and the additional five-dollar duty stamp ensures that legal protection for abused women remains a pie in sky, said Majome.

She said some court officials, including magistrates, are also a hindrance to women seeking justice.

"In early 2000 I handled two cases of a teenage girl and middle aged woman who had been raped and fell pregnant. The magistrates who heard the cases separately kept delaying granting (the) termination orders.

"The Termination of Pregnancy Act gives magistrates exclusive discretionary powers to order termination and I think sometimes these powers are abused to serve personal beliefs and convictions at the disadvantage of the affected women," she said.

But she said government plans are at an advanced stage to set up a family court that would be sensitive to women.

Director of women’s rights organisation Musasa Project, Netty Musanhu, said despite receiving training some court officials are gender insensitive.

"You will hear the presiding officer chastising a woman during a (domestic violence) trial (saying) ‘I have no time for tears.’ That alone can ensure women don’t come to court seeking justice," said Musanhu.

Research conducted by Women and Law Southern Africa (WLSA), an organisation dealing with human rights, showed that women are frustrated by financial, geographical, cultural and social factors in using the higher echelons of the courts.

"Problems emanate from the structure and nature of (the court) system in its form. Maintenance matters, domestic violence and administration and distribution of deceased estates remain the major points where women seek justice," said WLSA national coordinator Slyvia Chirawu.

(END)

Just who is a father?

Mother’s touch . . . Marondera community services manager Mrs Kumbirayi Kundiona cuddles abandoned 10-day-old baby Runako Tsimba.

By Phyllis Kachere
STARK naked and clutching her dangling umbilical cord still attached to her tiny body, abandoned new-born baby Runako was 10 days ago found lying a few steps from the entrance to a beerhall in Marondera’s high-density suburb of Cherima around 5am on a freezing morning.
Today Runako Tsimba turns 10 days old and has been surnamed after the famous Tsimba Beerhall, in line with the law which demands that for purposes of reintegration an abandoned child should be named after the neighbourhood where they were found.
Showing severe signs of hypothermia owing to excessive exposure to the cold, little Runako was rushed to Marondera District Hospital by a group of women known locally as “community mothers”.
“Runako was found crying and stark naked near Tsimba Beerhall in Cherima.
“The ‘community mothers’ — a group of volunteer women who assume motherly duties in their neighbourhoods to orphans and vulnerable children — quickly mobilised warm clothing for her,” said Marondera Municipality community services manager Mrs Kumbirayi Kundiona under whose supervision the “mothers” do their work.
The “community mothers” initiative is one of the social welfare programmes run by Marondera Municipality with support from Save the Children.
Today, Ward 2 of Marondera District Hospital has become Runako’s home and will remain so as social workers battle to find a home for her.
And as Runako celebrates her 10 days in this world today, Zimbabwe is also commemorating Father’s Day, an occasion to celebrate fatherhood.
And how the bouncing 3,5kg Runako would celebrate that day today, and in future, remains anybody’s guess as she has suffered the double tragedy of being abandoned by both her father and mother.
“We may never know why Runako’s mother abandoned her but there could be a number of reasons. And we must not be quick to judge her.
“Her mother could have been a victim of rape who concealed the pregnancy due to the shame suffered by those who disclose that they have been raped.
“Or she could have been abandoned by the man who made her pregnant and hoped to marry. Or yet still, she could have abandoned Runako for fear of being rejected by her own family for having a child out of wedlock,” said child rights activist Mrs Christine Mupande.
And Mrs Mupande.wondered: what exactly is society celebrating on Father’s Day?
“What is there for the men out there to celebrate this Father’s Day when almost half of Zimbabwe’s children are being raised by their single mothers? Just who is a father? Does fertilising an egg amount to becoming a father? Isn’t fatherhood all about raising and moulding a child?” wondered Mrs Mupande.
Marondera community mother Mrs Thokozile Mbizi explained that her group was mothering the community’s needy children while the community fathers were nowhere to be seen.
“Shouldn’t we as community mothers be working alongside community fathers? But they are just not there. Our communities need fathers.
“Our children lack the input of their fathers as we raise them and until men realise they have to stop being male and become men, we are going to be stuck with mothering our children without their fathers,” said Mrs Mbizi.
Mrs Kundiona said Marondera Municipality would continue to support vulnerable children through its district and ward child protection committees.
The municipality yesterday donated       formula milk and clothing for baby Runako.-The Sunday Mail

Ministry launches ARVs probe

Saturday, 18 June 2011 22:52 Health

By Phyllis Kachere
THE Ministry of Health and Child Welfare is probing all central and provincial hospitals following allegations that some officials at these institutions are selling anti-retroviral and other essential drugs to private pharmacies.
The criminal activities are creating artificial shortages of these drugs at the public hospitals, forcing patients to buy the medicines at the private pharmacies at exorbitant prices. Deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare Dr Douglas Mombeshora told The Sunday Mail that his ministry had launched an internal investigation following the reports.
“We suspect officials at the major hospitals have been diverting and selling ARVs and other essential drugs meant for the public to private pharmacies where they would later refer hospital patients to buy them,” said Dr Mombeshora. “Numerous reports have been lodged with the ministry by the public, citing dubious shortages of especially ARVs at these institutions. Internal investigators are on the ground as we speak.” Dr
Mombeshora said the hospitals will also be investigated for various other underhand dealings in nurse training recruitment.
Potential nurse trainees were forced to pay bribes ranging from US$500 to US$800 to secure places.
Dr Mombeshora said the investigators will also look into allegations that some hospital officials were prejudicing the State by undercharging patients and pocketing the proceeds. Major hospitals under investigation include Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, Harare Central Hospital and Mpilo Central Hospital.
Provincial hospitals will not be spared.
Although results of the probe were still trickling in, Dr Mombeshora was optimistic that the rogue officials would soon be brought to book. The head of the Aids and TB Unit in the ministry, Dr Owen Mugurungi, confirmed the reports and said: “According to our procurement and stock status, we should not be experiencing shortages of ARVs at public hospitals.”-The Sunday Mail

Just who is a father?

By Phyllis Kachere
STARK naked and clutching her dangling umbilical cord still attached to her tiny body, abandoned new-born baby Runako was 10 days ago found lying a few steps from the entrance to a beerhall in Marondera’s high-density suburb of Cherima around 5am on a freezing morning.

Today Runako Tsimba turns 10 days old and has been surnamed after the famous Tsimba Beerhall, in line with the law which demands that for purposes of reintegration an abandoned child should be named after the neighbourhood where they were found.
Showing severe signs of hypothermia owing to excessive exposure to the cold, little Runako was rushed to Marondera District Hospital by a group of women known locally as “community mothers”.
“Runako was found crying and stark naked near Tsimba Beerhall in Cherima.
“The ‘community mothers’ — a group of volunteer women who assume motherly duties in their neighbourhoods to orphans and vulnerable children — quickly mobilised warm clothing for her,” said Marondera Municipality community services manager Mrs Kumbirayi Kundiona under whose supervision the “mothers” do their work.
The “community mothers” initiative is one of the social welfare programmes run by Marondera Municipality with support from Save the Children.
Today, Ward 2 of Marondera District Hospital has become Runako’s home and will remain so as social workers battle to find a home for her.
And as Runako celebrates her 10 days in this world today, Zimbabwe is also commemorating Father’s Day, an occasion to celebrate fatherhood.
And how the bouncing 3,5kg Runako would celebrate that day today, and in future, remains anybody’s guess as she has suffered the double tragedy of being abandoned by both her father and mother.
“We may never know why Runako’s mother abandoned her but there could be a number of reasons. And we must not be quick to judge her.
“Her mother could have been a victim of rape who concealed the pregnancy due to the shame suffered by those who disclose that they have been raped.
“Or she could have been abandoned by the man who made her pregnant and hoped to marry. Or yet still, she could have abandoned Runako for fear of being rejected by her own family for having a child out of wedlock,” said child rights activist Mrs Christine Mupande.
And Mrs Mupande.wondered: what exactly is society celebrating on Father’s Day?
“What is there for the men out there to celebrate this Father’s Day when almost half of Zimbabwe’s children are being raised by their single mothers? Just who is a father? Does fertilising an egg amount to becoming a father? Isn’t fatherhood all about raising and moulding a child?” wondered Mrs Mupande.
Marondera community mother Mrs Thokozile Mbizi explained that her group was mothering the community’s needy children while the community fathers were nowhere to be seen.
“Shouldn’t we as community mothers be working alongside community fathers? But they are just not there. Our communities need fathers.
“Our children lack the input of their fathers as we raise them and until men realise they have to stop being male and become men, we are going to be stuck with mothering our children without their fathers,” said Mrs Mbizi.
Mrs Kundiona said Marondera Municipality would continue to support vulnerable children through its district and ward child protection committees.
The municipality yesterday donated       formula milk and clothing for baby Runako.-The Sunday Mail

Clr Gomba at it again

Sunday, 12 June 2011 11:05 Features

Ward 27 councillor Herbert Gomba embroiled in the occupation dispute of number 4910 Nata Lane, Glen Norah A.

By Phyllis Kachere and Charlotte Musarurwa
HOUSE No. 4910 Nata Lane in Harare’s Glen Norah A high-density suburb looks just like some of the “matchbox-sized” houses in the neighbourhood.
In fact, unlike most of the houses in that area that appear generally well kept, House No. 4910 has all the signs of neglect.
The dirty, charcoal-stained walls and the blocked water running through the small yard even make this council-owned house unsuitable for human habitation.
This three-roomed house is the home of 32-year-old Ms Ndakaitei Masutso, her husband Tonhodzai Togara (37) and their four children. The family has been staying in this house since 2009.
Despite looking run-down, this house is at the centre of an “ownership” dispute between Ms Masutso and Ward 27 councillor Herbert Gomba, who also claims to have been allocated the same house.
Having been allocated the residence through a special arrangement between the Harare Municipal Workers’ Union (HMWU) and Harare Municipality, Ms Masutso was advised to move in while her stay was being regularised. A letter dated July 22 2010, signed by HMWU chairperson Mr Cosmas Bungu, to Harare’s director of human resources challenging Masutso’s pending disciplinary hearing over the matter stated that:
“This occupation (Masutso’s) was done in the spirit of assisting council employees . . . It was agreed that non-council employees  occupying council-owned houses be identified.
“After identification of such houses those in critical situations were to occupy the houses and regularisation would follow.”
In fact, an earlier memo by HMWU written on November 2 2009 confirmed Ms Masutso’s assertion.
“N. Masutso of No. 4910 Glen Norah and L. Kurewa of Flat No. 6960 are staying at the stated addresses and are not regularised. They are facing incessant harassment by councillors and certain directors
“May your good offices assist them regularise their stay before the matter gets out of hand.”
And Ms Masutso says ever since she moved in, her family has not enjoyed peace.
“Soon after we moved in in 2009, Clr Gomba would come in person telling us to leave this house. He would threaten to evict us.
“He said he would use all his powers to have us thrown out of this our allocated council-owned house in Glen Norah,” said Ms Masutso.
She said she was not alone in her ordeal as several other families faced eviction in what the board of inquiry dubbed connivance between councillors and senior officials to repossess and allocate themselves council property.
The threats came to a head last August when Dr Ignatius Chombo set up a board of inquiry to investigate the widespread evictions alleged to have been instigated by named councillors and officials.
Councillors and employees implicated in the scam included:

• Clr Marange tried to grab 2321 Glen Norah;

• Clr Gomba tried to grab 4910 Glen Norah;

• Clr Mbadzi tried to grab 4708 Highfield;

• Clr Gorekore tried to grab 5051 Highfield;

• Clr Katsande tried to grab 5577 Highfield;

• Council worker Wilfred Ganyira tried to grab 5836 Highfield; and

• Council worker Nelson Zimba tried to grab 4999 Highfield.

In an interview with Minister Chombo, he said he had not yet received reports concerning the matter, but he was going to make investigations.

Mr Tonhodzai Togara, husband of Ms Ndakaitei Masutso, at the entrance of No. 4910 Nata Lane, Glen Norah A.

“The matter has not come to my attention, but I am going to carry out investigations,” he said.
Some of these councillors were subsequently sacked from their positions, but Clr Gomba was spared. She said bills have been coming in Clr Gomba’s name and the May bill now shows the house is no longer a council-rented house but is now owned by the councillor.
“While the matter appeared to have died after the disciplinary hearings, it appears it is persisting behind the scenes. Last month’s bill came and it was still in Clr Gomba’s name, but this time the bill no longer indicates this is a council-rented house.
“We have objected to our bills coming in his name, but nothing seemed to have changed,” said Ms Masutso.
This, she said, has caused anxiety to her and suggests the house now belongs to Clr Gomba. But a senior official in the office of the director of housing and community services, who declined to be identified, said:
“Since the time of the evictions, the bills that were appearing in Clr Gomba’s name were never changed. They are still to be reversed. The house still remains council-rented property; the tenant who resides there is supposed to pay the bills,” said the official.
Clr Gomba told The Sunday Mail last Friday that the house remained council property even though the bills still appear in his name.
“Because the bill is appearing in my name, this does not translate to my ownership of that house.”
But Clr Gomba would not explain why the bills were appearing in his name in the first place. While the matter is simmering, Harare Municipality does not seem to be in a hurry to effectively deal with clear traces of corruption right under its nose.-The Sunday Mail

They live by the sword, but should they die by it?

By Nyarai Mudimu

HARARE, Jun 9, 2011 (IPS) - In her glory days, death-row inmate Rosemary Khumalo (66) lived life dangerously on the edge. She was a sanguinary fortune hunter who would resort to anything, even murder, to land her loot, according to court records of her trial.

Her last crime in 1998, which ended with the murder of her businessman suitor Maxwell Sibanda, marked the end of her life of crime, and ushered in her new life as a death-row inmate at Zimbabwe’s notorious Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in 2000.

Convicted of the murder of Sibanda and armed robbery in 2000 and sentenced to death, now a frail and pale shadow of her former self, Khumalo has been waiting for her execution for over a decade.

"I have petitioned the President (Robert Mugabe) for clemency more than five times. Two of these petitions have been turned down while three have not yet been responded to.

"I am now frail and suffer ill heath. I have become hypertensive and all I plead for is mercy. This waiting, not knowing when I will be executed has become torture that is worse than the death sentence I am waiting for," Khumalo told IPS from her cell at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.

While Khumalo has been on death row the longest, she is not alone; there are 51 others awaiting execution in Zimbabwe. The last person to be hanged in this southern African country was Mandlenkosi ‘Never’ Masina Mandha who was executed in July 2005.

Zimbabwe is drafting a new constitution and during the consultative outreach programmes, mixed reactions were recorded. Both President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF and Professor Lovemore Madhuku’s National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) agree on the retention of the capital punishment on Zimbabwe’s statutes.

NCA’s draft constitution states that: "As part of the Bill of Rights, this draft proposes that the death penalty be abolished in Zimbabwe in respect of all other offences except serious cases of murder."

Section 37 of the controversial Kariba draft signed by the three parties in the government of national unity (Zanu PF, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC- T) and the Deputy Prime Minister Prof Arthur Mutambabra’s Movement for Democratic Change- Mutambara (MDC-M) states: "Every human being has the right to life and may not be deprived of it intentionally. A law may permit the death penalty to be imposed on persons convicted of murder but the penalty may be carried out only in accordance with a final judgment of a competent court…" (Although the MDC-T is a signatory of the Kariba draft they have backtracked on its contents and now say their position is anti-capital punishment.)

While the politicians call for the retention of the death penalty, civic society has been engaged in a spirited campaign against it.

The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace Alouis Chaumba said his organisation was lobbying the minister of justice and legal affairs Patrick Chinamasa for the review of the death penalty. Human rights activist and lobbyist for the abolishment of the capital sentence Sanderson Makombe believes now is the time for Zimbabwe to remove ‘this uncivilized sentence’ from its statute books.

"There is no scientific evidence to support the death sentence as a deterrent to criminal behavior compared to other forms of punishment.

"The death penalty is retributive and justified vengeance with the high costs of the litigation far outweighing life in prison sentences," said Makombe.

He said if put to a referendum, the majority of Zimbabweans might favour its retention on the country’s laws.

"Because we are more prone to want revenge, we do not believe those that kill should be spared and treated differently.

"In fact, the majority will probably say prisoners have no rights at all. They forfeit their rights when they commit crime. However, the arguments for abolishing are technical and not populist," noted Makombe.

Because of the long lapse since the last execution, former deputy minister of justice and legal affairs Jessie Majome believes Zimbabwe could be on the road to the abolishment of the death sentence.

"The country executed in 2005 and if you check the trends in our courts, you will notice the reluctance to impose the death sentence. There is restraint on the death sentence from the courts," said Majome, who is also a Member of Parliament.

In support of this Zimbabwe’s two former Chief Justices are recorded to have voiced their concern over executions. The late former Chief Justice Enoch Dumbutshena is noted to have said: "I believe that many people we sentence to death for killing somebody should not be sentenced to death but given a life imprisonment term."

In apparent reference to the capital sentence, his successor former Chief Justice Antony Gubbay is recorded as having said: "What may not have been regarded as inhuman or degrading a few decades ago may be revolting to new sensitivities, which emerge as civilization advances."

Makombe explained that Britain only abolished the death penalty in 1964 after reviews showed that some people had been executed following erroneous court judgments.

"Equally tragic mistakes have been made by the courts in Zimbabwe. An innocent woman Sukholuhle Kachipare, who was on death row for a long time in Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison was only released in 2001 following a judgment review that showed she was innocent," said Makombe.

Globally, more than 96 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, eight for ordinary crimes and 43 are de facto abolitionists (countries with a death sentence but haven’t used it in the last 10 years and have committed not to use it). Africa has 15 countries that have abolished the death sentence while 21 have committed not to use it although it is still in the statutes.

(END)

Boys in sex for favours with their teacher

Sunday, 05 June 2011 01:10 Top Stories

By Phyllis Kachere and Kundai Shumba

(File Picture)

MORE Zimbabwean high school boys than girls are reportedly engaging in sexual activities with their teachers in exchange for favours, recent research by the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare has revealed. These initial findings of a study on adolescent sexual reproductive health, commissioned by the Southern Africa HIV/Aids Information Dissemination Services (SAfAIDS), established that while efforts had been concentrated on “saving” the girl child, the boy child has become the “open target” of sexual predators in schools.
Last year, several boys at Goromonzi High School were found to be evading school authorities and having sex with prostitutes from the nearby Majuru township.
The favours, noted the research,  mostly centred on passing examinations and were not only confined to schools but extended to tertiary education.
These preliminary findings were made public last week during the launch of the “Scaling up access to sexual and reproductive health and rights for adolescents and young people” project by SAfAIDS in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, Women’s Action Group (Wag), Padare/Enkundleni, SayWhat and Patsime Trust.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail last week, SAfAIDS country representative Mrs Monica Mandiki said the findings had exposed the gaps in the provision of reproductive health information and services to the youths. Although there were no immediate statistics on the trend,  Mrs Mandiki confirmed a worrying increase in the number of boys having sex with their teachers.
“Of the 1 200 pupils interviewed, 7 percent confirmed they had had sex with their teacher in exchange of favours and the majority of this 7 percent were boys.
“Efforts have been concentrated on the girl child with the mistaken belief that she was more vulnerable than the boy. Now, findings suggest the boy is in a worse off situation,” said Mrs Mandiki.
The findings also confirmed the increase of teenage pregnancy in schools.
Last year, 15 girls under the age of 16 dropped out of school at Chivhanga Secondary School in Honde Valley after they fell pregnant.
The report also noted that despite proof that school children were having sex as evidenced by increased school girl pregnancies and expulsions, headmasters interviewed generally objected to any information on condoms, sexually transmitted infections and contraceptives to filter into their schools.
The interviewed school heads were of the belief that provision of this information would encourage promiscuity and experimentation by pupils.
Only four out of 32 school heads interviewed (13%) were willing to have condoms distributed at their schools.
It has been found that critical shortage of manpower trained in adolescent sexual reproductive health issues made it difficult to implement policy meaningfully at health centres.
For instance, the Midlands Province’s health facilities were all supposed to offer youth-friendly services.
“In all 45 nurses were trained to support youth-friendly services in 2010. All of them have left the public service except three,” noted the report.
While life skills were dealt with during Education for Living at schools, there was hardly focus on sexual issues and the subject was never taken seriously since it was non-examinable, said the report.

Fake school head

Phyllis Kachere on 05 October, 2009 02:35:00
 
IN a case that has exposed loopholes in the management of schools by the
education authorities, a daring teacher imposed himself as acting headmaster of
St Joseph’s High School (Mqabuko High School) in Matabeleland South before
defrauding the learning institution out of more than US$1 600 and R3 000 in
tuition fees and levies.
Henessy Dube claimed that the parent Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and
Culture had transferred him from St Columba’s High School in Bulawayo to
become the substantive deputy head of St Joseph’s High, which did not have a
head at the time.
He later took charge of the school on July 29 this year and immediately assumed
control of the safe and strong room. A senior official in the Matabeleland South
education directorate confirmed the case, saying Dube’s defective transfer
came to light after ministry staffers noticed that his papers were not
authentic.
It was also discovered that the relevant authorities had not sanctioned his
take-over of the administration of the school. The official said the fake
headmaster was arrested last month, but later escaped from police custody.
“Henessy Dube took advantage of the fact that when he arrived at St
Joseph’s, there were only eight out of an establishment of 31 teachers and
there was no substantive school head,” said the official in an interview last
Friday.
“He claimed that since he was coming in as substantive deputy head, he was the
only senior person to assume full administration of the school.
“No handover-takeover procedure was conducted when he took over the keys to
the safe and strong room.”
Meanwhile, two school development committee members and two clerks at Sanyati
Baptist High School in Mashonaland West were last week arrested for
misappropriating fees and levies at the school.
Allegations are that on April 23 this year, school development committee
treasurer Mr G. T. Rukainga bought a safe on behalf of the school at a cost of
R400.
He allegedly tampered with the receipt and made it read R1 400 before claiming
reimbursement four days later. Committee secretary Mr Mudzanire received US$5
000 to pay several service providers. He, however, allegedly settled one bill of
US$1 000 and embezzled the remainder.
Members of the committee also allegedly paid themselves hefty sums of money in
sitting allowances as well as travel and subsistence claims. Sources said the
two clerks who were also nabbed failed to account for the US$1 187 they
receipted between January and March. The sources said the net was closing in on
corrupt heads and development committee members.
They said arrest and disciplinary action await, among others, the head and
chairman of Zimre Primary School in Mashonaland East who both allegedly
misappropriated more than US$3 000.
The head allegedly failed to account for US$2 300 and has since repaid almost
US$200 to offset the embezzled amount. His chairman, on the other hand, failed
to account for US$1 289.
In the largest haul so far, a clerk at Matinunura High School in Gweru is unable
to account for US$50 000 while the head and school committee could not account
for US$6 162.
Police confirmed they were pursuing such cases with a view to bringing the
culprits to book. The Deputy Minister of Education, Sports, Art and Culture, Cde
Lazarus Dokora, also castigated school committees for seeking self-enrichment.
He said they should not award themselves sitting allowances as their services
are purely voluntary.
“Parents must report such members who pay themselves allowances or claim
travel costs as their services should be on a voluntary basis,” he said.

Promoting women economic empowerment

Promoting women empowerment

Deputy News Editor Phyllis Kachere

NOVEMBER 27 2007 is the day mother of four and communal farmer Mrs Tendai Marere (39) from the Nyamaropa area in Shamva says completely changed her life.

"This is the day I received farming implements from the Government. This is the day that I received a plough plus chain and sprayer for my cotton crop. This is the day my nightmares and worries about how I will till my fields come rains, evaporated. This is the day I stopped being dependent on my in-laws for use of their plough. I can’t describe how I feel now.

"I am a widow and all along I have been dependent on my in-laws for support each time the rains came. But this time, thanks to the Government, I have become capable of tilling my own fields using my own plough. Now look at how healthy my maize, cotton, soya beans, groundnuts crop is and compare that with the lower yields I used to receive before," she said.

This is the day that Government’s Phase Two farm mechanisation initiative became a reality to not only Mrs Marere’s family, but to four other families in Shamva’s Ward 10 Reza village, whose heads became the proud beneficiaries of the programme.

"We are overjoyed with the plough that my daughter-in-law received from Government. This shows we have a Government that listens and cares for its people. Where would she find the billions to buy the plough and the sprayer? She is just a widow. My son is now late. The President must be thanked. Please convey our gratitude to him," chipped in her father-in-law, Sekuru Misheck Marere.

Mrs Marere said the new farming implements she received have removed pressure on her in-laws’ implements, which she also relied on.

"Because of my new implements I have managed to increase my hectarage from my previous. This year I have put four hectares under maize, one hectare under cotton, two hectares for groundnuts, one for soya beans and an acre for roundnuts and sunflower. I have a healthy crop and I am expecting to make more money from my produce. My only worry is the poor price offered by GMB for my maize crop," she said.

She said after being vetted from a pool of 45 other communal farmers who had applied to receive the implements, she feels obliged to work hard and show Government that its effort was not in vain.

"When the programme started, we rushed to submit our names to our village heads and our village ended up with 45 applicants. The names were returned with the advice that they should be reduced to only five deserving farmers per ward.

"The village assembly, which comprises of all members in the village, met and voted. We all agreed the implements would only go to those who have proved their farming capabilities and not chancers. In other wards we heard there was commotion as only village heads and other village officers received the implements. But that was not the case here. We only selected our best farmers," said another villager, Mr Chirezi Mbulawa.

Mrs Marere said she was not surprised when she won as she together with her in-laws are known serious farmers in their area.

"It was good that they rewarded real farmers. Now we have the task of fulfilling Government’s objective of producing food for the whole nation. It’s just that our fields are getting too small for our capacity. I am sure now we qualify for an A2 farm," said Mrs Marere.

She said with her farm produce, she has managed to send her three children to school and no longer depended on her in-laws’ farming implements.

"As a widow, I have relied on my in-laws for financial support for the upkeep of my four boys. But now I tell you, that has completely changed. I can plough on time and look after my family without depending on handouts. Hurumende yadzinga nhamo mumba mangu. (The Government has chased poverty out of my household.) It is a dream come true for an ordinary villager to receive such a plough," said Mrs Marere.

She said she and the other woman who received a similar plough would soon engage in training other women in their ward to become more successful farmers and hopes to start a poultry project with proceeds from the sale of her crops.

Observers have noted that Government’s farm mechanisation programme would help it meet its targets on Millennium Development Goals one and three which commits it to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, and promote gender equality and empower women by 2015.

Wrong Plot:pupils study wrong texts

Pupils study wrong setbooks

By Phyllis Kachere
FOR the second consecutive year, literature students at Mabelreign Girls'
High School in Harare are waiting to sit for their public examinations after
studying the wrong set books.

In what must surely be an unprecedented administrative oversight, 19
Advanced Level candidates are at risk of failing next month's examinations
after they were made to read Caribbean literature instead of African
literature.

The Sunday Mail could not establish which textbooks they read for the
Caribbean literature.

The African literature setbooks they were supposed to have read are
Ancestors by Chenjerai Hove, A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong'o and A Man
of the People by Chinua Achebe.

Although some of the affected students and teachers at the school confirmed
to this reporter that they had indeed studied the wrong setbooks, the senior
mistress who was in charge at the school on Friday maintained all was well.

The school's headmistress was said to be away when The Sunday Mail visited
the school on Friday afternoon.

The regional director for Harare, Mr Thomax Dhobha, did not reply to
messages left at his office, while the Ministry of Education, Sport and
Culture's permanent secretary, Dr Stephen Mahere, did not answer calls to
his mobile phone.

Neither did he respond to messages left at his office.

The anomaly was discovered at the beginning of this term and it is believed
that a neighbouring school offered the school the correct textbooks and some
study material.

It is not clear how the students ended up studying the wrong books when a
syllabus is available and the school has a head of department who is
supposed to ensure that the right syllabus is followed.

This is not the first time Mabelreign Girls' High School has been in the
news for making students study the wrong books for literature examinations.

Last year, some 40 Ordinary Level students who were supposed to have read
Waiting for the Rain by Charles Mungoshi and I Will Marry When I Want by
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, ended up studying Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe,
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and Twelfth Night by William
Shakespeare. Parents of the concerned students who talked to The Sunday Mail
were angry at the developments.

They complained that their children had been made to study the wrong books
for two years running but were now expected to study the correct books in
less than a month.

Back to the Top

New Constitution: Women lobby for dual citizenship

New Constitution: Women lobby for dual citizenship

By Phyllis Kachere
Zimbabwe Sunday Mail

WHAT was expected to be an everlasting union has turned into a nightmare for young Alice Ndare (not her real name) who married her Yugoslav boyfriend and relocated to his country in 2004.

As per tradition, Alice immediately assumed her husband’s citizenship.
Dual citizenship is prohibited in her new domicile and this meant renouncing her Zimbabwean citizenship.

One child and four years later, the marriage hit rocky times, resulting in her husband filing for divorce.

Recently, Alice approached the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers’ Association (ZWLA) to seek assistance in the divorce case and in reclaiming her Zimbabwean citizenship.

Without an income and social support in Yugoslavia, life has become a challenge for her. “The husband for whom I renounced my Zimbabwean citizenship has ditched me,” she said.

“All the friends I made in Yugoslavia were through him. Sadly, most of them have now abandoned me because of the fallout I had with my husband.

“Now I am stuck with his citizenship but without him and without social support.”

ZWLA advocacy manager Ms Thoko Thabete said Zimbabwean women were lobbying for dual citizenship to be incorporated under the new constitution.

“Ms Ndare is not alone in this situation. Because of the economic challenges that forced most young Zimbabweans into the Diaspora, many of our young women have found love outside Zimbabwe and some have married foreigners,” said Ms Thabete.

“We all know situations change. When things go wrong, it is usually women and children who become victims.

“That is why there is this strong lobby by women for dual citizenship and the right for them to pass on their citizenship to their children and spouses.”

In reference to Ms Ndare’s case she said:

“In such a situation, Ms Ndare no longer has the previous strong ties with Yugoslavia because her marriage is on the rocks and divorce is likely to be granted,” she said.

“The tragedy of the matter is Ms Ndare is regarded as a citizen of Yugoslavia, a country to which her husband was the only one binding her to it.

“With the husband gone, Ms Ndare’s ties to Yugoslavia have weakened. But had she been allowed to keep her Zimbabwean citizenship, she simply would have come home.”

Ms Thabete said citizenship allowed one to enjoy consular protection when in a foreign country.

“Ms Ndare cannot seek consular protection from the Zimbabwean embassy in Yugoslavia because she is regarded a local, but at the same time she is failing to access social programmes because of a language barrier,” she said.

She added that while politicians disapprove of dual citizenship, the positives on the social side outweigh the political negatives.

In terms of the current Zimbabwean Constitution, a person who is married to a Zimbabwean and has been ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe for at least five years since the marriage is entitled on application to become a Zimbabwean citizen by registration.

This amendment was effected by Act number 1/2009.

Prior to this amendment, a woman married to a Zimbabwean citizen was entitled to apply for citizenship by registration.

However, a man married to a Zimbabwean woman did not have the same entitlements. This issue was brought to court in the Rattigan citizenship case.

According to the Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) the old position meant women did not have to wait for five years.

It seems as if when women challenged this position vis-a-vis their foreign husbands, the law in its “majestic neutrality” decided to create similar conditions.

There have been these allegations that some foreign men marry Zimbabwean women just to get citizenship and they go on to dump them after attaining it.

WLSA has also recommended that: “Women must have the same right to acquire and pass on Zimbabwean citizenship as men.

“Article 9 of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) recommends that women and men should have equal rights in terms of citizenship.”

Ms Thabete said spouses of Zimbabwean women should have the same rights of residence and/or citizenship as those of Zimbabwean men.

Article 8 (5) of the Sadc Protocol on Gender and Development states that parties shall put in place legislative provisions that ensure married women and men have the right to choose whether to retain their nationality or acquire that of their spouse.

Du Toit, the rhino messiah

Friday, 06 May 2011 20:28 Features

Rhino messiah . . . 2011 recipient of the Goldman Environment Prize for Africa, Raoul du Toit.

By Phyllis Kachere
“CONSERVING rhinos saves much more than the rhino themselves — they are flagships for biodiversity and for national development based upon sustainable wildlife management in Africa,”  says Raoul du Toit
Recently awarded the Goldman Environment Prize for Africa for 2011 in recognition of his rhino conservation activities in Zimbabwe, Du Toit strongly believes in community involvement and awareness for effective rhino conservation.
Du Toit, director of the Lowveld Rhino Trust, received US$150 000 as prize money that will be channelled towards supporting his vision and conservation activities. 
Five other such prizes were awarded, during two recent ceremonies in the United States, to environmentalists from other regions of the world.
One of the ceremonies was held at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington on April 13 and attended by Zimbabwe’s representative in Washington, Ambassador Machivenyika Mapuranga, who congratulated Du Toit on behalf of the Government.
US President Barack Obama also congratulated Du Toit and the five other award winners when they met him at the White House on the same day.
In an interview with Sunday In-Depth at his offices in Harare, Du Toit said the award would bring international attention to the rhino conservation movement in Zimbabwe.
“It is a mixed situation because on the one hand there are now more rhinos in the Lowveld region than there has been for over a century, but on the other hand the poaching onslaught is intensifying and there can be no room for complacency,” he said.
According to figures recently released by the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Zimbabwe has a national total of nearly 430 black rhinos and about 290 white rhinos. 
There is still a long way to go before the black rhino population can recover to its previous total of about 1 500 in the late 1980s.
“In the Lowveld region of Zimbabwe, despite major poaching pressures, there are now more rhinos than at any other time over the past 100 years,” said Du Toit.
“This shows that it is worth fighting the battle to save rhinos because we really can win it, and we need some species success stories to encourage us in the broader campaign to conserve biodiversity.”
The award given to Du Toit was in recognition of the efforts of his team in the Lowveld Rhino Trust, which is supported by international conservation groups such as the International Rhino Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund, Save Foundation and Save the Rhino International.
Private rhino custodians have also been bearing high costs of rhino protection.
Asked why he focused on rhino conservation, Du Toit explained:
“Rhinos are as modern in evolutionary terms as we are and are socially more complex than is generally believed,” he said.
“They are superbly adapted to a wide range of African habitats, from deserts to forests. They don’t carry diseases that can be transmitted to livestock, and they don’t eat farmers’ crops.
“They look after themselves and can double their population within 10 years if we just leave them alone.
“Rhinos are a true umbrella or flagship species, since the conservation of rhinos and their habitats ensures that a lot of other biodiversity is conserved at the same time.”

Survivor . . . The rhino that survived the crude hacksawing of its horn by poachers last month in the Lowveld.

Du Toit said rhinos were proud symbols of Africa’s natural heritage and a major attraction for tourism, which is one of Africa’s economic pillars.
During the early 1990s, the Lowveld Rhino Project was established with its funding coming initially from the Beit Trust. At that stage, the Lowveld held only 4 percent of Zimbabwe’s rhinos, whereas it now holds 80 percent of the national population of rhinos. 
This is equivalent to over 7 percent of the global population of the critically endangered black rhino species. 
Much of the conservation efforts in recent years have involved moving rhinos from less secure areas to more secure areas within the Lowveld, and taking aggressive action against poachers.
Du Toit said credit for the action against poachers is largely due to the efforts of the police and other law enforcement agencies.
“Poachers operate in syndicates like hard-core, well-armed bank robbers,” he said. 
“They mount hit-and-run attacks and fight back with their firearms if they are tackled by anti-poaching patrols.”
An upsurge in rhino poaching was seen from 2007, with at least 300 rhinos being poached in Zimbabwe since then.
Du Toit and other conservationists believe that this upsurge in poaching is directly linked to a greater Asian presence in Africa, since the main market for the horns is within Asian countries whose communities believe that the horns have medicinal properties.
Vietnam has been identified by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) as the Asian country importing most of the horn, even though that is illegal in that country.
A number of Vietnamese took advantage of weak controls on the safari hunting of white rhinos in South Africa and pretended to be hunting rhinos for sport, but instead of taking the horns as hunting trophies they were taking them to sell on the illegal market. This created new market demand, which in turn helped drive the poaching of rhinos.
South Africa has been losing approximately one rhino a day to poaching gangs. 
Since the national rhino population in South Africa is over 20 000, this rate of loss is sustainable at present, unlike in Zimbabwe where every poached rhino adds to the decline of the national population.
“We have good cops and bad cops,” said Du Toit. “Some of them are working tirelessly and professionally to hunt down poachers whereas some other policemen and soldiers, in the minority, have actually been poaching rhinos.”
Even when the poachers are arrested, conservationists like Du Toit complain that the courts have been dealing with them sternly at times and at other times have been letting them off on technicalities or for other questionable reasons.
“These discrepancies cause great international concern about Zimbabwe’s conservation effort and its obligations under treaties such as Cites,” he said.
As an example of effective action, Du Toit cited the arrest of two rhino poachers in the Chipinge Safari Area on April 17.
“Within a week, these poachers were each sentenced by a Masvingo magistrate to 10 years in jail plus three years on weapon charges for possession of an AK rifle,” said Du Toit.
“But in another case, poachers who have been caught with heavy calibre firearms fitted with illegal silencers have not been sentenced on the same weapons charges.”
Conservation NGOs were horrified by a poaching case in Save Valley Conservancy in early April, when a black rhino bull was shot four times and had its horns hacked off its face, while it was still alive, leaving a bloody wound.
The rhino has miraculously survived despite these injuries.
In co-operation with the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, the Lowveld Rhino Trust has ensured that it receives veterinary treatment.
At the time of this incident, four men were arrested in Chiredzi, with a silencer-fitted heavy-calibre rifle, far from their home area of Beitbridge.  
The two men were subsequently released and are yet to be charged.
“Cases such as this are now watched closely by the conservation NGOs,” said Du Toit.
“We cannot tolerate any lack of effort or suspicion of corruption when the war against poachers has to be fought on all fronts, by everyone.”
To bring local communities onto the side of those who are protecting rhinos, the Lowveld Rhino Trust intends to use its cash award from the Goldman Environmental Prize to expand a scheme through which local communities can become shareholders in rhino breeding projects, through public-private-community partnerships.
“Returns from rhino breeding for the communities would be provided in the form of direct support for local schools, in proportion to the growth of rhino populations in wildlife areas that they live next to,” said Du Toit.
“This will include a major environmental education effort. This scheme was launched in the Lowveld by Minister Nhema in 2006 but we have lacked resources to fully implement it. 
“Now, with the Goldman award funding, we can give full emphasis to this need to make rhinos relevant to rural people and to give the incentives for these people to help us fight poachers.”-The Sunday Mail

Chikombedzi's child brides

Sunday, 27 March 2011 00:15 Features

Catch them young . . . Primary schoolchildren in class at Alpha Mphapha Primary School in Chikombedzi.

By Phyllis Kachere in Malipati, Chiredzi
POVERTY and the Shangaan cultural practice of “kudzanira”, which initiates girls into womanhood, is driving parents in areas around Hlengwe, Gezani and Chikombedzi that border Mozambique and South Africa, to marry off girls as young as 13.
Chiredzi district, situated in the southeastern part of Zimbabwe, is home to the majority of the Shangaan people in Zimbabwe.
So severe are the school dropouts that also coincide with the Shangaan girls’ graduation from the “chikomba” (woman initiation) in July or August that some schools are left with a few or no girls in their Grade Seven classes when they open for the third term.
Although lobola is not fixed, the brides fetch as much as    20 000 rand and six head of cattle.
Mr Benedict Mawire, headmaster of Phahlela Primary School in Matibi, had astonishing figures of girls who drop out of school to get married.
“In 2007, the Grade Seven class had 13 girls but by the third term only one girl was attending school. In 2008 we had 26 girls doing Grade Seven but after the initiation ceremony only two came back to school.
The year 2009 was no different. We had 23 girls before kudzanira and only three girls came back to school after the graduation,” he said.
Headman Hanyani Zava Mphapha explained that according to the Shangaan tradition, the initiation process for the girls is done at the onset of puberty, which usually starts around 12 years old.
“Shangaan girls have to be initiated at the onset of puberty. This is usually done during June/July. I cannot go into details about the curriculum but I can confirm that it involves sex education and the duties and responsibilities that come with womanhood. This is where they are prepared for marriage,” said Headman Mphapha.
Although school heads at Muhlekwani and Makhanani primary schools in Matibi II could not provide statistics, they confirmed that they had also suffered similar haemorrhages with regard to Grade Seven girls soon after “they became women”.
“The pattern is the same every year. Soon after kudzanira, we expect to lose Grade Seven girls as most get married soon after the ceremony. Most of them get married to majonijoni, a term used to describe local Shangaan men who work in nearby South Africa and Mozambique.
“Because of the proximity of both Mozambique and South Africa to our school some men from these countries also come and marry these young girls. We have watched painfully as the girls leave school for marriage,” said Mr Felex Ndlovu, who heads Muhlekweni School.
Makhanani and other schools in the area have also not been spared as confirmed by school head Mr Wilson Dheimani.
“It is difficult to separate the girls’ flight from school from kudzanira. Soon after the initiation of girls, classes are emptied of girls,” said Mr Dheimani. 
The situation at Chiumburu Primary School near Triangle is dire, forcing the school head to appeal to both the police and education authorities to conduct joint awareness campaigns.
“I had to appeal to the police and senior education authorities to conduct joint awareness campaigns to force parents to allow their children to come to school. The girls have just stopped coming to school,” said the school head who declined to be named. 
According to the Shangaan tradition, the headman said, soon after graduation, the girls are required to tie red bandanas around their heads to make them recognisable as the “new women”.
The red bandanas distinguish and show they are ready for womanhood and marriage but it is this “advertisement” that has become the girls’ curse for they become easy targets for early marriage.
“After graduation the girls are eager to find suitors and the red bandanas provide easy identification. And once on the market, there is stiff competition, resulting in the youngsters marrying off at those early ages.
“Within a year after graduation, a traditional Shangaan girl should be able to find a suitor and get married. Because of competition, one cannot afford to stay for too long on the market. That’s our tradition,” said 76-year-old Mrs Ketsiya Randalani from Chief Chilonga’s area.
Masvingo Provincial Education Director Mrs Clara Dube confirmed that Chiredzi district, home to the majority of the Shangaan people, has suffered worrying school dropouts during the transition from primary to secondary school.
“There are worrying trends of school dropouts of both boys and girls during the transition from primary to secondary in Chiredzi district. For example, in 2009 there were                  2 660 girls who sat for Grade Seven examinations but only 1 440 proceeded to secondary school the following year.
“Of the 2 455 boys doing Grade Seven in 2009, only 1 252 proceeded to Form One. We are not sure where the dropouts have gone to,” said Mrs Dube in an interview with The Sunday Mail.
Some educationists have suggested engaging the traditional leadership in the hope of delaying the initiation of schoolgirls until at least they reach 18 years.-The Sunday Mail

Who is Chibhebhi?

Phyllis Kachere

Phyllis Kachere is deputy news editor at the The Sunday Mail in Zimbabwe, which she joined in 2001 as a junior reporter and later served as senior reporter before reaching her present position. She began her mainstream media career as an  HIV/AIDS junior reporter in the late 1990s. For Phyllis, after losing two sisters to AIDS, reporting on the subject has stopped being just a news story. Armed with a social science degree, she started out as an information officer in the Zimbabwean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and moved on to mainstream media where she briefly worked for the then Zimbabwe Inter Africa News Agency in 1999. Phyllis was the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists HIV/AIDS Reporter for the years 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. She has also been awarded the Union of Catholic Press International Award for HIV/AIDS Reporting for 2007

Lobola, curse or blessing?

By Phyllis Kachere

LOBOLA, arguably the most cantankerous subject among the old, read in-laws, sons about to pay it, and daughters who could get someone to pay it in a jiffy.Before it became this highly commercialised, lobola was a system of cementing relationships within families. The amounts paid were nominal, almost symbolic. Of course, ridiculous heads of cattle (danga) paid were unheard of. The Bantu people living in what is now known as Zimbabwe revered cattle, but their lobola cattle demands (I am informed) remained consistent, depending on how many children the woman would give the man. The more children, the more cattle!The results showed in our mothers and grandmothers "spewing" children, some as many as 13, translating to 13 heads of cattle. The women would not have any say on how many children they would have or at what interval, and sometimes to their health’s risk. This is notwithstanding the quality of the bride! Virgins, non-virgins, one-child mothers, the more children, the more cattle paid! Talk of paying for the reproductive rights of women, while they remain onlookers while trading in their body parts (literally) takes centre stage.Those who advocate for lobola have maintained that it was a token of showing appreciation to the in-laws for a wonderful bride. But I maintain it was and still is a form of subjugation of women as payment of lobola would ensure that the woman would never be consulted on any family matter, including her sexual and reproductive rights. The man would simply issue instructions for the weaning of a toddler and subsequent pregnancy. She had and still has no say on the number of children she will bear.The very nature of lobola has ensured the exclusion of women to vital debates concerning their very core. Lobola negotiations are carried out by the male members of the family, while the women, including the bride and her mother, are just commodities and onlookers. The bride is only there to be paraded as a prized trophy.With the advent of multiple currencies and the suggested commercialisation of lobola, young men and women about to transact in lobola are crying foul.Not even the liquidity crunch facing Zimbabwe has stopped lobola transactions, payments of which are being done in the adopted multi-currencies.But what and who determines lobola? Some have argued it is the quality of the goods that determine the price. But in this highly patriarchal system we live in, are damaged goods spared? I am saying this at the risk of getting a backlash from avowed feminists whose fury I smell now!How much a "maiden" (read a virgin who has aborted three or four times and has been on oral contraception since 16) is worth, is determined by her clan.In some clans, the more educated she is, the more she will fetch on the market. More like bidding done at a cattle sales auction! For some, the bride price is determined by how much the groom is worth. A deep-pocketed groom is likely to be charged a high lobola, commensurate with his pockets, even when the bride carries no added value. Not even degreed!A mini survey on how much should be adequate for a first time lobola transaction, showed that any figure between US$2 500 and US$5 000 was acceptable."At least US$4 000 shows a sign for preparation for the big day for a childless woman. If it’s damaged goods with a string of offspring, then US$1 000 or so would be in order. This is taking into consideration that the groom will have the extra responsibility of looking after the woman’s children. But the main issue is that the groom has to pay the full price for purity, a full virgin should attract a higher lobola compared to a used womb."A customary lobola ceremony is not a thing you just wake up and say you are doing. There has to be evidence of planning to illustrate how serious the groom is. It takes time and resources to prepare for the day," said 25-year-old Martin Chishava, who himself is preparing to pay lobola in June. But for 50-year-old Dr Rudolf Chinganga, lobola should not be determined by whether the woman has children or not but should be determined by the value added to her."You surely don’t expect me to charge the same lobola for my doctorate daughter as a failed Ordinary Level candidate. The failed Ordinary Level candidate, like the name suggests, should attract a few hundred US dollars. She has no value added to her and she is worth those few hundreds of dollars. You cannot compare an engineer woman with a marry-me-and-feed-me. No ways," argued Dr Chinganga.From buying the reproductive rights of a woman to value addition, the things women have to endure!"I will not get someone to pay lobola for me. Why must someone, including my parents, be paid for me to get married? Am I a commodity to be traded to the highest bidder? This lobola business is responsible for all the woes befalling women. They are victims of domestic violence because their husbands claim that they hold exclusive rights to the behaviour and discipline of their women," said a defiant 21-year-old university student, Tariro Mushaninga.Indeed, payment of lobola has led to women enslavement as the men claim they paid for her subservience. So much about women's rights!l Feel you have something to add to this debate, get in touch on phyllis.kachere@zimpapers.co.zw or The Sunday Mail, PO Box 396, Harare or 04-795771 ext 1371, Tuesday to Saturdays.

How Canadile syphoned Marange diamonds

By Phyllis Kachere and Itai Mazire
DIAMONDS worth over US$100 million are believed to have been smuggled out of the country by Canadile Miners and sold on the black market with part of the proceeds being pocketed by company officials under the guise of loans. The rest of the money was reportedly laundered back to Zimbabwe and used as working capital by Core Mining shareholders who went into partnership with the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation to form Canadile Miners.
Blacklisted gold and diamond smuggler Marco Chiotti, a South African of Italian descent based at Manica in Mozambique, has been fingered as the man behind the illegal sale of the diamonds and laundering of the proceeds.
The estimated US$100 million loss was a result of undeclared diamonds that were illegally sold on the black market plus another 29 000 carats of gem quality diamonds worth US$29 million which Core Mining shareholders failed to account for.
Related storyPart of a confidential report compiled by the ZMDC investigations committee seen by The Sunday Mail reads: "Core Mining has failed to discharge its obligations related to the foreign capital investment, which it undertook to make in the joint venture agreement. The committee reasonably believes that Core has funded the working capital requirements of Canadile through the illicit sale of diamonds, and has caused the proceeds of the illicit sale of diamonds to be recorded as shareholder loans and not as equity investment.”
Core Mining was being fronted by the incarcerated Lovemore Kurotwi, who is now facing trial for illegally selling diamonds.
It is understood that Chiotti would illegally sell diamonds mined at Chiadzwa on the black market and shuttle back to Harare to deposit various amounts into Canadile’s bank account.
Kurotwi would then withdraw those funds and distribute most of the funds amongst Core’s shareholders as loan repayments with the remainder being ploughed back into the mine as working capital.
“From September to December 2009 Chiotti endlessly shuttled between Harare and Mutare to raise capital injected into Canadile in figures of $4 000, $5 000 and $10 000 totalling $694 000 by December 31 2009 .
“The frequency of the shuttling and the values of the deposits suggest that the working capital of Canadile at this time was raised through the illicit sale of diamonds conducted by the shareholders of Core, a clear act of money laundering,” noted the report.    
The report also states that given the active role that Chiotti had in making cash deposits into Canadile’s bank account and petty cash account, he was involved in the smuggling of diamonds mined by Canadile.
After selling the diamonds, the proceeds would be injected into Canadile’s account and later withdrawn as shareholder loans.

ARVs nightmare

The Sunday Mail

Sunday, March 12, 2006

By Phyllis Kachere

FOR the past two weeks, relatives of 36-year-old Mrs Sekesai Mukahiwa
(not her real name) have been taking her to a polyclinic in the
high-density suburb of Glen View where she lives.

Having been bed-ridden for the past three months, relatives of the
widowed mother of three children finally decided to have her tested for
HIV and with the hope of enrolling her for the Government's free
anti-retroviral therapy.

"All has been well for us as we have managed to convince Mrs Mukahiwa to
be tested for HIV with the hope that if she is positive, she will
automatically qualify for the Government's free anti-retroviral
programme. She has been ill and bed-ridden for a long time and we have
tried everything we can without her getting well," said Mrs
Mukahiwa's sister, Ms Erina Muzondo.

But she said after paying the $100 000 consultation fees at the
polyclinic and explaining to the sister in attendance that Mrs Mukahiwa
wanted to be tested for HIV and eventually enrol in the anti-retroviral
treatment programme, she was referred to Harare Central Hospital.

And that's when all hell broke loose for the family.

"At Harare Hospital, we were referred to the opportunistic infections
clinic where we made known our intentions. But, it was not to be.

"After undergoing another HIV test, my sister was sent for post-test
counselling. Not only that, she was informed that before she could be
taken in on the programme she had to undergo tests to determine her CD4
cell count, liver function and full blood count. As these tests could
not be done at the hospital but at private laboratories, and she was
expected to pay the costs," said a dejected Ms Muzondo.

Private laboratories in Harare charge anything between $10 million and
$20 million for the tests.

At one of the laboratories visited in the Avenues area, relatives of the
sick sat patiently as they waited their turn to have their blood drawn
for the tests.

Another relative, Mr Ngoni Kuvagonera, said they had to pool their
resources in order to raise the required $17 million for tests to
establish the CD4 cells and the full blood count.

He said they were still to raise $8 million needed for the liver
function test which their bed-ridden sick relative whom he declined to
identify had to go through before being accepted on the Government's
subsidised anti-retroviral programme.

For the duration of the interview, the frail and sick woman lay
motionless on the back seat of Mr Kuvagonera's car.

He said he was worried that valuable time to save her might be slipping
away as she went through numerous tests while they also struggled to put
together enough money for the tests.

"When we took my sick brother to Harare Hospital seeking to have him on
the anti-retroviral programme, little did we know we would be asked to
pay for these expensive tests.

"If Government is serious about treating people with Aids, these tests
should be conducted at all public hospitals. They are too expensive at
private laboratories," said Mrs Nyasha Gondongwe from Norton.

But the chief co-ordinator of the Aids and TB programme in the Ministry
of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Owen Mugurungi, said paying patients at
Government hospitals are not exempted unless they were covered under the
Social Dimensions Fund.

"The moment one pays for consultation, they are expected to pay for the
tests. If they cannot afford to pay, the onus rests with them to prove
that they can't pay so they have to get a letter from the Social
Welfare Department. Without that they will have to foot the bill," said
Dr Mugurungi.

Where patients have to pay at public health institutions, said Dr
Mugurungi, the amounts were as low as $50 000 for a month's supply,
which would cost about $7 million from private pharmacies.

He also explained that while it would appear valuable time was being
wasted as tests were being conducted, the tests were crucial before ARVs
were administered.

"We also have to screen for other opportunistic infections before we
commence treatment otherwise we would be worsening an already bad
situation. ARVs are not just administered before we have a CD4 cell
count, full blood test, liver function test and a host of other tests.

"Besides there is a certain level of the CD4 cell count which signals we
should commence treatment. A CD4 cell count of above 500 does not
warrant commencement. But anything between 500-300 will also be okay
unless the person has tuberculosis or any other opportunistic
infection," he said.

Dr Mugurungi said the hospital had to treat the tuberculosis or
opportunistic infection first before ARVs were administered.

He said that while Government may not have enough funds for new patients
on the programme, it had enough drugs for those that are already
registered.

"For the success of the ARV treatment and lessening development of
resistance to the drug, we encourage an adherence percentage of at least
98. We cannot afford to let patients miss a day's in- take of the
drugs," he said.

Both Unicef and WHO have pledged funds for the programmes and Dr
Mugurungi said the drugs were available.

He said it was important that people living with Aids reduce stress in
their lives and underscored the need to join support groups for
psycho-social support.

"Anti-retroviral therapy will become more beneficial if patients quickly
go to the opportunistic infection clinic should they have other
illnesses. Before they are enrolled for the programme, administering of
cotrimoxazole is also helpful in managing other illnesses," said Dr
Mugurungi.


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