Connect with us

National

Lupane school withholds O’Level results for six years

Published

on

BY MOREBLESSING NCUBE

One of the top schools in Matabeleland North is in the eye of a storm after withholding O’ Level and A’ Level examination results for two former students from as far back as 2015 following a dispute over outstanding fees.

Advertisement

Lawyer Prisca Dube from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has since written to Fatima High School in Lupane demanding that the institution must release Wellington Nyoni and Sithembinkosi Ndlovu’s results.

ZLHR said the results of the two former students, who are children of war veterans, were being withheld even though their outstanding fees had been settled by the government.

“In Lupane, we have asked authorities at Fatima High School to release O and A’Level examination results for Wellington Nyoni and O’Level examination results for Sithembinkosi Ndlovu, which they are withholding as a way to induce payment of outstanding school fees,” ZLHR said.

Advertisement

” School authorities have been withholding results for Nyoni, who wrote his examinations in 2015 and 2017 respectively and for Ndlovu, who sat for her examination in 2016 claiming that the students’ parent Fransisca Ncube and guardian Lochi Stephen Ndlovu, who are liberation war veterans had not paid-up school fees and yet all along the children’s school fees was being paid by the governments.

ZLHR said following discussions between Dube and the school’s headmaster, it was resolved that the two former pupils should engage the head as he was not aware of the two cases.

“The Fatima High School head only identified as B Moyo advised the human rights lawyer that he was not aware of the matter and requested that both Nyoni and Ndlovu should report at the school and see him personally to have the issues resolved,” the lawyers said.

Advertisement

Local schools’ resort to withholding examination results for former students in a bid to force them to pay outstanding school fees.

The government pays school fees for children of former fighters in Zimbabwe’s 1970s liberation war.

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

National

Zimbabwe on track for 6% growth as economy recovers from drought

Published

on

BY REUTERS

Zimbabwe is on track to achieve a forecasted 6% economic growth in 2025 helped by good agricultural output and strong commodity prices, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said on Thursday.

The Southern African country’s economy has shown signs of recovery in the first half of the year following a severe drought and currency turbulence in 2024 that pushed GDP growth down to 2%.

“Given the positive economic developments during the period January to June, we are confident that the projected economic growth of 6% alluded to in the 2025 National Budget is achievable,” Ncube told parliament in a mid-year budget review.

“All sectors of the economy are expected to record positive growth in 2025, mainly on account of a favourable agriculture season, improved electricity generation, stable exchange rate and inflation rate,” he said.

He did not give an update on the budget deficit, which was seen at 0.4% of gross domestic product in 2025 during the budget forecast last November.

Zimbabwe’s fiscal position remains under strain from grain imports, drought relief spending and the public sector wage bill. While the government has collected more revenue than in the same period last year, analysts say containing the deficit may prove difficult without new fiscal measures.

The local currency, the ZiG, launched in April 2024 to replace the Zimbabwe dollar, has largely remained stable against the U.S. dollar but is still overshadowed by widespread use of the dollar in everyday transactions.

Ncube reiterated the government’s commitment to the gold-backed unit and said the currency had benefited from tight monetary and fiscal policies.

Continue Reading

National

Malaria cases surge in Zimbabwe

Published

on

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

Zimbabwe is experiencing a dramatic surge in malaria cases, with 111 998 cases and 310 deaths reported as of epidemiological week 23 in 2025.

This is a significant increase from the same period in 2024, which saw 29 031 cases and 49 deaths.

According to Dr Memory Mapfumo, an epidemiologist at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), “This surge is no coincidence. Prolonged rains have fueled mosquito breeding, while activities like gold panning, fishing, and artisanal mining are exposing more individuals to risk, especially during peak mosquito activity hours.”

The situation is worsened by the low use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), leaving communities exposed and placing further strain on already stretched health systems. Across Zimbabwe, 115 out of 1 705 health facilities have been affected, highlighting the widespread impact of the disease on healthcare infrastructure.

Mashonaland Central Province has accounted for 32% of all malaria cases, while Manicaland reported 25% of the malaria-related deaths. The interconnectedness of the countries in the region has also contributed to the spread of the disease.

Zimbabwe’s malaria outbreak is part of a broader regional trend. Other countries in southern Africa, including Botswana, eSwatini, and Namibia, are also experiencing significant increases in malaria cases.

In Botswana, 2 223 cases and 11 deaths have been reported, with Okavango being the hardest hit. eSwatini has recorded 187 cases, with children under 15 and farmers being particularly affected. Namibia has seen over 89 959 cases and 146 deaths, with the majority of cases being local transmissions.

The Africa CDC emphasizes the need for continued vigilance and investment in malaria control. Governments must enhance their efforts to improve the use of ITNs, strengthen community engagement, and address environmental and social factors driving the outbreaks.

Dr Merawi Aragaw, head of Africa CDC’s Surveillance and Disease Intelligence, notes that “as climate change accelerates, we are witnessing shifts in temperature and rainfall that are expanding the range of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, introducing vectors into previously unaffected regions.”

According to Dr Aragaw, “sustained vector control measures – including environmental management, strengthening surveillance, drug and diagnostic resistance monitoring, and fostering cross-border collaboration – will be critical in mitigating the growing threat of vector-borne diseases, especially malaria.”

The regional surge underscores a broader global trend, with malaria cases worldwide climbing to 263 million in 2023, up from 252 million the previous year, and Africa accounting for 95% of all malaria-related deaths.

Despite these alarming figures, there have been significant successes: Cabo Verde was certified malaria-free in 2023, and Egypt is poised to achieve the same in 2024. Yet for many countries in southern Africa, the road to elimination remains steep, with outbreaks threatening to reverse years of progress.

Continue Reading

National

Government unveils plan to curb road accidents

Published

on

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

Minister of Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services, Jenfan Muswere, has outlined a series of measures to combat the rising tide of road traffic accidents in the country.

Zimbabwe has been witnessing a worrying surge in road traffic accidents, with the latest incident claiming 17 lives last week, along Seke road.

Yesterday, Muswere addressed the cabinet, outlining measures to curb road traffic accidents. Below is his statement, word for word:

“So capacitation of the vehicle inspection is ongoing and the sourcing of the vehicle inspection department. Compliance to legislation is also one of the parameters that we are utilising.Standardisation in terms of driving schools, the training of drivers, speed limits as a governance to traffic monitoring, the utilisation of traffic management, the utilisation of cameras for number plate recognition and facial recognition in order to curb over speeding and traffic offences. The capacitation of the Zimbabwe Republic Police in order to apprehend and also deal with traffic offences. Legislation amendments that are taking place in order to ensure that our roads are safe. As the minister (Felix Mhona) has also highlighted that the Civil Protection Unit is being capacitated in order to deal with the challenges that we might not have been able to deal with as part of an architecture under the hall of government approach.”

Background statistics from the Zimbabwe Republic Police reveal a concerning trend. During the first six months of 2025, the country recorded 28 159 road traffic accidents, up from 25 968 in the same period last year. Fatal crashes also increased by 11% from 784 to 870, while road deaths rose by 4.9% from 1 037 to 1 088. The majority of accidents occur in known danger zones, often due to commuter congestion and erratic driving by public transport operators.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2022 VicFallsLive. All rights reserved, powered by Advantage