VP Chiwenga Politicking on Musikavanhu Constituency Challenges

On 18 July 2018, Chibuwe community was virtually brought to a standstill by the arrival of Vice President Rt General Constantino Chiwenga for a Zanu PF rally in Musikavanhu Constituency.  He was accompanied by Monica Mutsvangwa, the Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister, Enock Porusingazi the Zanu PF candidate for Chipinge South Constituency and Joshua Murire who is the Zanu PF candidate for Musikavanhu Constituency. The rally was organised with the sole purpose of drumming up support for Joshua Murire in the forthcoming harmonised elections slated for 30 July 2018. Schools in and around Chibuwe village had to be closed in order to allow the community attend the rally. It was glaringly evident that buses from as far as Mt Selinda and Matione were used to ferry party supporters to the rally.

As the keynote speaker at the rally, VP Chiwenga promised to immediately reconstruct the road between Tanganda and Checheche including the tributary roads as a response to the community outcry. The issue of the poor road network in the constituency has been a thorny issue for many years as the road is the only link between the constituency and the other areas like Chiredzi, Birchenough Bridge, Mutare and other big cities. The community is unfazed by promises made in the heat of an election campaign but that can be easily forgotten in the comfort of power, and it is urging Zanu PF to move beyond podium rhetoric and get into practical action. The road has been in this deplorable state from a combination of factors that include neglect, abuse from Greenfuel trucks and the use of gravel of decreasing quality for both road construction and maintenance. An issue of Greenfule was not even mentioned by the Vice President, as the establishment has caused innumerable damage to the road and also is a source of communal conflict. The Vice President need to be reminded that efficient rural road network is crucial in addressing issues of poverty and community isolation from other areas and in promoting economic growth. In Musikavanhu Constituency, the community has been suffering immensely from an inefficient and unsafe road network that had adverse effects on their livelihoods and the development of agriculture. As a community based organisation, PYD is reminding VP Chiwenga that his government launched the National Transport Policy on 15 April 2013, and since that time we are yet to witness a specific policy approach to rural road network. The pronouncements by VP Chiwenga lack seriousness and genuineness. 

At the same rally, VP Chiwenga alluded to the idea that the government will erect a security fence so that wildlife from surrounding conservation areas will not be destroying crops belonging to local villagers as well as cause death and injury to the general populace in the area.  True, wildlife has been wreaking havoc and causing destruction to crops, livestock, infrastructure and human lives but it is important for the Vice President to get a clear picture of the kind of farmers being affected in this ensuing human-wildlife conflict. The farmers in the Sabi Valley of the Chipinge District that are susceptible to constant attack from marauding wildlife are the poorest of the poor. Vice President Chiwenga needs to go beyond using poor communal people’s anxiety for political votes and mileage. The problem goes beyond a security fence as there is need to compensate the victims of human wildlife conflict. As PYD, we have witnessed a fragmented approach to the whole issue by governmental departments, an attitude that does not adequately provide the much needed assistance to the victims. In March of 2018, Minister Muchinguri – Kashiri again promised that they will be compensation for injuries sustained during attacks, loss of property and loss of agricultural produce. The community that VP Chiwenga addressed is yet to witness a disbursement of the compensation from what the minister said will derive from a special fund. Again, PYD is urging the Vice President to adequately address the issue of under reporting that is currently unfolding in the Sabi Valley. Information gathering, record keeping and reporting needs to be greatly improved. 

PYD is urging politicians to go beyond the podium rhetoric and offer real and practical solutions to the challenges that local communities are currently facing.

#MugangaWedu2018