National

Zimbabwean children born underweight, suffer stunted growth, global report says

Published

3 years ago

November 25, 2021

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

Many children in Zimbabwe are born under weight and the country is battling to deal with stunted growth among infants, this year’s Global Nutrition (GN) Report says.

The data on the country’s nutrition profiles said Zimbabwe still has a burden of malnutrition but is ‘on course’ to meet three targets for maternal, infant and young child nutrition.’

“No progress has been made towards achieving the low-birth-weight target, with 12.6% of infants having a low weight at birth.

“Some progress has been made towards achieving the exclusive breastfeeding target, with 41.9% of infants aged zero to five months exclusively breastfed,” the report released this week says.

Zimbabwe is ‘on course’ to meet the target for stunting, with 23.5% of children under 5 years of age affected, which is lower than the average for the Africa region (30.7%).”

The report says Zimbabwe also missed the target for wasting, with 2.9 percent of children under five years of age affected, which is lower than the average for the Africa region ( six percent).

The report also noted that the prevalence of overweight children under 5 years of age is 2.5%.

Some progress, however, has been made towards achieving the target of reducing anaemia among women of reproductive age, with 28.9 percent of women aged 15 to 49 years now affected, the report added.

On obesity and diabesity, the report noted that there has been limited progress towards achieving the diet-related non-communicable disease (NCD) targets.

“The country has shown no progress towards achieving the target for obesity, with an estimated 27.9% of adult (aged 18 years and over) women and 5.6% of adult men living with obesity,” the report added.

“Zimbabwe’s obesity prevalence is higher than the regional average of 20.7% for women but is lower than the regional average of 9.2% for men. At the same time, diabetes is estimated to affect 8.1% of adult women and 7.3% of adult men.”

It recommended implementation of policies to reduce the impact of marketing of foods and beverages high in saturated fats, trans fatty acids, free sugars, or salt on children.

Operational policy, strategy, or action plan to reduce unhealthy diet related to non-communicable diseases and policy to eliminate industrially produced trans fatty acids were also among the list of recommendations.

National

Coal train in flames: NRZ locomotive damaged in fire incident

Published

1 month ago

April 16, 2025

VicFallsLive

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.

National

Ranger killed by elephant in Kariba

Published

2 months ago

March 14, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

A 62-year-old ranger, Josphat Mandishara, was tragically killed by an elephant in Kariba yesterday.

Mandishara, who worked for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks), was on patrol in the Gatche-gatche area with fellow rangers and police officers.

At around 10 pm, Mandishara returned to the harbor where their boat was docked, and that’s when he encountered the elephant. The elephant charged at him, causing fatal injuries. His colleagues were nearby, resupplying at the Gatche-gatche Irrigation Scheme.

Mandishara’s body was taken to Kariba District Hospital for a post-mortem, and the incident was reported to the police.

ZimParks has sent a team to manage the problem elephant and prevent similar incidents in the future.

The Director General of ZimParks, Prof. Edson Gandiwa, and his team have sent condolences to Mandishara’s family, friends, and colleagues. Mandishara will be remembered for his dedication to wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe.

National

ZIMRA customs officer appears in court for criminal abuse of office

Published

3 months ago

February 3, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY STAFF REPORTER

A Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) customs officer, Phillip Kuvenga, has been accused of criminal abuse of office for allegedly assisting in the importation of banned motor vehicles.

Kuvenga, 28, who is stationed at Victoria Falls, allegedly received documents from clients, completed valuation sheets, and carried out the valuation process. However, he is accused of endorsing different chassis numbers to deceive his supervisors during the validation and approval process.

After obtaining approval, Kuvenga would capture the correct chassis numbers in the ASYCUDA World System. He would then alter or replace the documents submitted earlier to his supervisors.

The offense came to light when a motor vehicle that had not yet arrived in Zimbabwe was found to have been already registered. A thorough check by ZIMRA led to Kuvenga’s arrest.

Kuvenga appeared in court on February 1, where he was denied bail by Magistrate Gift Manyka. He is expected to appear in court again today for another bail hearing.