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By Desire Tshuma
The Twins Association of Zimbabwe (TAZ ) this Saturday is set to officially launch its organization in Harare which shall be graced by His Excellency President Emerson Mnangagwa
TAZ is an association that was founded in Harare in 2016 by Farai Lawyer Katonha and Tendai Mayor Katonha brothers, a set of Chitungwiza-based twins. This set of twin brothers were born in 1984 from a polygamous father who married three wives. The Katonha brothers were born as three sets of twins from the same father but from different mothers. Being three sets of twins from the same man became very difficult for the father to raise the children, feeding, clothing, and taking them to school.
Growing in such a poverty-stricken big family was a nightmare for the Katonha brothers who struggled by themselves to shape their future as they had to work as herdboys to raise their tuition so that they could manage to get an education. Farai Lawyer and Tendai Mayor are married to twin sisters Nvette Tinenyasha Neshamba and Yvette Nyasha Neshamba.
The key concept to form TAZ by Katonha brothers who are the founders and directors of the organization was to uplift all twins around the country who are facing challenges similar to what they endured.
”We formed this organization in 2016 using our personal resources. We have managed to open branches in all ten provinces of the country and all our leadership posts either at the provincial or national level and the board is handled by sets of twins ” explained Farai Katonha.
”Currently, we have 3000 registered sets of twins and 10 000 inclusive. We have identity cards that we issue to every registered set of twins,” elaborated Tendai.
TAZ is venturing into different income-earning projects so as to pay school fees and for those who are still in schools, colleges and universities, the projects include poultry, fish farming, grinding mills, and butcheries for selling the poultry that they keep. This is done countrywide.
TAZ membership has different technical skilled people that include builders, plumbers, and architects to mention just a few. We get construction contracts and we call those who specialize in the construction field who will do the job and when they get paid we take a small percentage to the bank for future use and the remaining is shared equally among those who did the job,” narrated Farai.
TAZ falls under the Ministry of Youth, Arts, and Recreation. The Ministry is also helping the organization to get loans from banks without any collateral. Empower Bank has also promised after the launch to bless the organization with loans.
Besides focusing on twins only, the organization also gives employment opportunities to the communities. Different stakeholders who will witness TAZ launch include the Ministry of Information, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Ministry of primary and secondary education, all mobile network providers, Nyaradzo Funeral parlour, Doves funeral parlour, Wensten Precast, UN ambassador, UNICEF, and United Nations Information Center.