Gwanda women embrace First Lady’s Cook-out Competition

Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]

WOMEN have been urged to embrace First Lady Amai Auxilia Mnangagwa’s “Traditional Cook-Out Competition” as part of efforts to unlock great empowerment and life-changing opportunities.

Speaking recently during a Gwanda District Traditional Cook-Out Competition, Gwanda Tshitaudze legislator, Cde Fisani Moyo, said the hosting of the competitions at the district level will go a long way in incorporating more women to take part in the programme.

The event was held concurrently with the Gwanda District’s belated International Women’s Day commemoration.

The Traditional Cook-Out competition programme was pioneered by the First Lady in 2021 out of the realisation that the consumption of indigenous foods has been on the decrease in the country, as most people are opting for fast foods, which expose citizens to the negative after-effects of some of the processed foods. 

Ms Nontokozo Tshili came out first in the competition followed by Ms Onica Mangena who came second and Ms Esther Ncube who emerged third. The competition had 19 women. 

The winners will represent the district at the provincial competition, which will be held in Beitbridge next month. All the 19 participants received prize money, a certificate and food hampers.

Cde Moyo urged women to use the “Cook-Out Competition” to display their cultural diversity and challenged young women to take an active part in the programme. The legislator also said recipes should be passed from one generation to the other to ensure their preservation.

“The traditional cook-out competition provides a platform for various tribes and communities to showcase their delicacies. It also provides a platform for knowledge sharing and sharing of skills on how to best prepare these traditional dishes. Traditional foods are key to our health as a country,” he said.

“Food plays a crucial role in defining our identity as a country and it’s a crucial part of our tourism and hospitality sector. I’m glad that these competitions have cascaded down to the district level, which shows that we are leaving no one and no place behind. 

“We hope to see these cook-out competitions being held even at ward level as we want to see more women taking part and embracing the programme,” he said.

Cde Moyo urged women to take the cook-out competitions seriously as they could unlock great opportunities, urging the women to safeguard their recipes.

He said preparing traditional foods was a great way to remind the youths about their origins and traditions and applauded participating women for applying diversity and creativity as they prepared their dishes.

Cde Moyo also said the cook-out competition was a great way of reviving traditional dishes within the communities, especially in urban areas.

He said women continue to play a crucial role in developing their communities hence their input must be celebrated.

The legislator noted concerns over gender-based violence and how it affects development, as it hinders women from realising their full potential. “As we celebrate the belated International Women’s Day, let’s take time to reflect on the important role women are playing in developing their communities. Let’s all take a stand against gender-based violence as it is killing our nation instead of building it,” he said.

Ms Nontokozo Tshili who came out first in the competition said the cook-out platform has helped her to identify her talent in cooking. She said she is looking forward to representing the district well in the provincial competitions. Ms Tshili said she will go on to develop and enrich her skills in cooking. “I would like to thank the First Lady for introducing this programme and I’m grateful for this opportunity to learn from others and develop my skills. This programme has brought empowerment to us as women,” she said. 

“I’m glad to be one of the women who will be representing the district at the provincial competitions and I promise to do my level best,” she said. —— @DubeMatutu.

Eviction looms as company wins land dispute

Fidelis Munyoro

Chief Court Reporter

Two members of a housing cooperative found themselves homeless after the High Court ordered them to vacate from the piece of land allocated to them because the land belongs to a company which is leasing the property from the State.

Mr Willard Rufu and Mr Samson Mutsagondo had already built their houses on the residential stands allocated to them by their cooperative Tirivepano Housing Cooperative in Retreat, Southlea Park.

The two are now facing eviction and demolition of their houses after Brumford Services (Pvt) Ltd, which is the holder of a lease agreement with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works in respect of Stand number 5098 Saturday Retreat, Harare, after the company instituted eviction at the High Court claiming that the two men who are members of the housing cooperative invaded the property and built their structures without permission.

It applied for a summary judgment arguing that the two men had no bona fide defence to its claim.

The company premised its application on the basis that it has title to the property based on a lease agreement it signed with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works on March 31, 2020. 

The lease agreement, it argued, was still extant, and the company continues to pay monthly rentals for the property to the State.

The property was zoned as industrial land and that position was made clear in a letter dated August 31, 2022 from the then Minister of Local Government and Public Works.

It was also argued that the two had no legal documentation that gave them the right to occupy the property and the Ministry had not backed up their claims to be lawful allottees of the property. 

But in their counter-argument Mr Rufu and Mr Mutsagondo claimed ownership of the property through their cooperative that was allocated that same piece of land in 2005. 

They claimed to have been in possession of that property since 2005 and were not aware that it had been converted to industrial use as alleged by Brumford.

That conversion of land use, the two argued, was an illegality at law since it was done without their knowledge.

They further argued that their right to stay on the property was premised on an offer letter issued to the housing cooperative, and they could not be evicted from the property because they had a clear right to be in occupation.

After hearing submissions by counsel Justice Paul Musithu granted the application for summary judgment by Brumford, finding that it had proved its claim against the two.

“Resultantly it is ordered that the first and second respondents and all those claiming occupation through the third respondent be and are hereby ordered to vacate Stand 5098 Saturday Retreat, Southlea Park, Harare.

“The Sheriff of Zimbabwe be and is hereby authorised and empowered to demolish any illegal structures erected on Stand 5098 Saturday Retreat, Southlea Park, Harare,” said Justice Musithu.

The two men and their cooperative were also slapped with costs of suit. 

In his judgment, Justice Musithu noted that it was clear from the documentary evidence before the court that Brumford was allocated the property in dispute through a lease agreement signed with the Ministry.

The court found that Rufu, Mutsagondo and their cooperative papers were not specific to the property that they were allocated. 

“The basis of their claim to the property in dispute is rather obscure,” he said. 

“No connection to the property has been set out in the papers. Nothing was placed before the court to justify any claim or entitlement to the property by any of the three respondents.” 

To this end, the judge ruled that the respondents had no legal basis to occupy the property in dispute and accepted the submission by Brumford’s lawyer that it would be a waste of time for the matter to go through all the motions of a trial when there is clearly no plausible defence on the merits.