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Rising Leicester City speaks of love from Zimbabwe

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LIECESTER – The 18-year-old attacking midfielder comes from a sporting family.

His father, Jeffrey Maswanhise, was a top Zimbabwean sprinter, while his older brother and mother also had an interest in the discipline.

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His father’s popularity in Zimbabwe has seen many of the nation’s fans watch on over the last week as Tawanda joined Brendan Rodgers’ outfit on their pre-season training camp in Surrey.

After Friday’s final session, the City starlet – known as JT by his team-mates – spared some of his downtime to talk through his experiences as a Fox to date.

“I joined when I was seven or eight years-old,” he explained. “I’ve been here for 10 years now, and when I was younger, I knew that there would be good opportunities for me here, and I’ve been up through all of the age groups.

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I was born in Zimbabwe as well, but I came to England when I was two years-old. I’m getting quite a lot of love over there because my dad obviously used to be a former sprinter for Zimbabwe and obviously he’s got a lot of friends and family and fans over there. They are showing a lot of love.

“I always wanted to be a footballer. My mum was into athletics as well because that’s how they met. I’ve just watched my dad all the years, so I was thinking I want to be like that someday.

“It was impressive, I was thinking one day I could be like him as well. Even my brother, he’s 25 now, he used to be a sprinter as well, and enjoyed football as well.”

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Such were his performances for the Club’s Under-18s in 2020/21, Maswanhise trained with the first team and was named in a Premier League squad for the first time ahead of City’s clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

If the occasion wasn’t big enough already, he watched fellow Academy star Luke Thomas score his first Premier League goal for the Club en route to their first away win over the Red Devils since 1998.

Reflecting on his inclusion in the matchday squad, Tawanda said: “I felt confident when I got told the news the night before that I was in the squad and I didn’t really feel any nerves until I was on the bench.

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“It was a good experience inside the changing room. The love and all the togetherness inside the changing room was quite big in there so I felt confident and I was ready to come on.

“We stayed overnight in Manchester, Salford I think it was, and I felt relaxed, thinking about what if I do come on. I was just thinking about different scenarios, if I do come on or if I don’t, and it was quite good actually.

“In that week or so in the lead up to that, I was training with the first team. It’s been tough but I’m managing, I’m getting better and I’m improving day by day, so as long as I’m improving day by day, I can show the coaches what I’m doing.

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The past few games I’ve played, I’ve just had little conversations with Brendan about my positioning of where I play. I’m an attacking midfielder so he’s just telling me improvements and successful things I’ve done out of possession, so it’s been really helpful.”

A week away with the first team in Surrey would have no doubt helped him to gather further information to improve his game, as he trains and plays alongside some of the Club’s biggest stars.

He played the opening 45 minutes against Burton Albion, and then impressed during the first half versus Wycombe Wanderers before being named as a substitute in the 3-3 draw with Queens Park Rangers. 

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“It’s been a lot of games and a lot of training sessions,” he said. “I’ve started both of the games now (pre-QPR) and Brendan has told me make sure you express yourself in the games before you go out.

“I feel like there’s improvements here, it’s been good, I just need to keep going and we’ll see where it takes me. I’m learning. I heard about [Patson] Daka’s goalscoring form last season so when it came to the Burton game, I was thinking: ‘I’ve got someone next to me or someone in front of me that can score, so my job is to assist them or get close to them’.”- lfc.com

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National

Coal train in flames: NRZ locomotive damaged in fire incident

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BY WANDILE TSHUMA 

A National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) locomotive suffered significant damage after catching fire while transporting export coal to Zambi. The incident occurred between Kalala and Matetsi sidings, resulting in the explosion of the locomotive’s fuel tanks.

According to the NRZ press statement on Monday, “A National Railways of Zimbabwe locomotive suffered some damages after it caught fire this afternoon while transporting export coal to Zambia.” Fortunately, the crew members on board managed to escape unharmed.

The NRZ responded swiftly to the incident, dispatching a rescue train with crews to the site. The team successfully extinguished the fire, preventing further damage. However, the locomotive itself sustained considerable damage.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, with investigations currently underway. “Investigations are already underway to establish the cause of the fire and the amount of damage to the locomotive,” the NRZ statement read.

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Human-wildlife conflict claims 18 lives in Zimbabwe’s first quarter

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has reported a disturbing trend of human-wildlife conflict in the country’s first quarter of 2025. According to the authority, 18 people have lost their lives, and 32 others have been injured in encounters with wildlife.

ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo revealed that the authority received 579 cases of human-wildlife conflict, which they managed to respond to promptly. The incidents have also resulted in significant livestock losses, with at least 53 cattle and 85 goats killed by wildlife.

The districts most affected by these incidents include Binga, Hwange, Kariba, Chiredzi, Hurungwe, Nyaminyami, and Mbire. ZimParks has been working tirelessly to raise awareness about wildlife behaviors and effective preventive measures in these areas.

In response to the crisis, ZimParks has translocated 129 animals back into protected areas and eliminated 158 animals deemed problematic.

“We encourage communities to continue reporting incidents to ZimParks Problem Animal Control numbers and local leadership, such as Councillors, Traditional Leaders, and Rural District Council Authorities, to ensure that we preserve lives,” Farawo urged.

The significant increase in livestock losses, with cattle deaths rising from 18 to 53 and goat deaths from 21 to 85 compared to the same period in 2024, highlights the growing challenge of human-wildlife conflict in Zimbabwe.

ZimParks’ efforts to mitigate the conflict include community initiatives to educate people on managing wildlife encounters effectively.

 

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Tens of Thousands in Zimbabwe Go Hungry as the Rains — and US Aid — Hold Back

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Tanayeishe Musau eats baobab porridge after school at his home in Mudzi, Zimbabwe, where the dish has become a daily staple amid worsening drought and hunger. Once a simple supplement, baobab porridge is now a primary meal for families like his, following widespread food shortages and the suspension of international aid.

BY LINDA MUJURU

This story was originally published by Global Press Journal.

Agnes Tauzeni stands on her parched field. She is a mother to two children, and is expecting another. But now, in a time that might otherwise have been joyful, her hopes wither like the struggling crops before her.

 

Three times she’s gambled on the rains; three times the sky has betrayed her. Her first two plantings failed. The soil was too dry to sustain life. Though her third attempt yielded a few weak shoots, they offered little promise of a meaningful harvest. El Niño-driven droughts have disrupted once-reliable rains, leaving Tauzeni’s family and many like hers struggling to feed themselves.

 

“I am always hungry,” Tauzeni says.

 

She worries about the health of her unborn child, based on how little nutrition she consumes herself.

 

Adding to this, food aid, previously funded by the US Agency for International Development, halted suddenly in January. That transformed what was already a struggle into a desperate battle for survival.

 

The food aid ended when US President Donald Trump, on his first day in office, issued an executive order that paused nearly all US foreign aid, most of which was administered by USAID. That agency is now all but defunct.

 

Food aid in Zimbabwe was an ongoing area of funding for USAID. In November 2024, the agency announced $130 million for two seven-year programs, implemented by CARE and Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture, that would provide food aid and other related support to areas of Zimbabwe most in need. The programs, which stopped, were just part of an ongoing slate of activities designed to help Zimbabwe’s neediest people.

 

About 7.6 million people in Zimbabwe — nearly half the country’s population — need humanitarian assistance, according to a 2025 UNICEF report. Of those, nearly 6 million, like Tauzeni, rely on subsistence farming.

 

Through the support of organizations with funding from USAID, people previously received cereals, edible seeds, oil and food vouchers.

 

“A sudden withdrawal can put the entire community in a dire situation,” says Hilton Mbozi, a seed systems and climate change expert.

 

Tauzeni recalls that her community used to receive food supplies such as beans, cooking oil and peanut butter to help combat malnutrition.

 

When Tauzeni got married in 2017, her fields promised abundance. Her harvests were plentiful, and her family never lacked food. Now, those memories feel like whispers from another world. The past two agricultural seasons, those harvests have been devastatingly poor.

 

With an empty granary and dwindling options, Tauzeni’s family survives on the same food every day: baobab porridge in the morning and sadza with wild okra in the evening. But Tauzeniworries whether even this will be on the table in the coming months.

 

“The little maize I have, I got after weeding someone else’s crops, but that won’t take us far,” she says.

 

Tauzeni says a 20-kilogram (44-pound) bag of maize costs US$13 in her village, an amount out of reach for her. Her only source of income is farming. When that fails, she has no money at all.

 

Hunger like Tauzeni experiences is widespread. Some families now eat just once a day.

 

Headman David Musau, leader of Musau village where Tauzenilives, says some people in his village did not plant any seeds this season, fearing losses due to the low rainfall. The government provides food aid inconsistently, usually 7 kilograms (15 pounds) of wheat per person for three months.

 

“It’s not enough, but it helps,” he says.

 

But without any other food aid, survival is at stake, he says. “People will die in the near future.”

 

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