By Munyaradzi Kufahakutizwe
First of all let me introduce myself. I am Munyaradzi Kufahakutizwe, having served ward 19 of Mabvuku Tafara for fifteen years that is three consecutive terms.
I was affected by recalls, l was recalled and l was also reelected under CCC ticket. I am running under the banner of CCC led by Advocate Nelson Chamisa. I believe in him and we also believe in him as a country.
Currently l have been assigned the duty to represent Mabvuku as a member of Parliament of which l believe l am ready to serve the community. To me it is not a new thing as l have been serving the community for the past fifteen years and accumulated vast experience.
I want to thank the residents in Ward 19 for showing confidence in me as it is not easy to be reelected for three consecutive terms and therefore l do not want to disappoint them l need to represent them well.
In these elections we are pushing for equal opportunities. We want a new great Zimbabwe for everyone that implies good health care services and education for everyone. That is our theme, that’s our concept and l appreciate that.
What we believe in Mabvuku Tafara is to avail good health care for everyone and access to water for everyone. We have been facing challenges in Mabvuku Tafara in terms of water supply. We need a permanent solution to solve this crisis and the permanent solution is only in the creation of Kudzi, Muda and Musanhi dams which have been on the card and used by ZANU PF since 1980 as a campaign tool hence that must stop.
In Mabvuku Tafara l will be making a lot of noise concerning the issue of those water bodies construction. I am very serious on that one because we are the most affected. As you may be aware the current water body we have is far away from here in Norton (Lake Chivero) and with the emergence of new residential areas in Budiriro and Kuwadzana this has fueled the scarcity of water because the water body is not meeting the demand.
I have been holding meetings with people in my constituency and they have since indicated to me that our priority is to solve the water challenges in Mabvuku. Recently we have witnessed the escalation of the drilling of boreholes in our urban areas. We do not want a situation whereby we increase the use of boreholes, which is meant for a rural setup. Here in urban areas we need clean tap water.
Drug abuse
I think you can agree with me that we have witnessed a surge in drug abuse and as a local legislator l intend to launch serious campaigns to raise awareness about the effects of drugs.
I am worried with the number of drug station dealers which are prevalent in Mabvuku. The law enforcement in the area is aware of these dealers but they have not effected any arrest of these dealers, hence as a local MP l have a sole responsibility to ensure that the offenders face the full course of the law.
We need to come up with some programmes in order to empower the youths in terms of sporting activities and a number of projects. We will reach out to other people, and corporates so that we enrol some of the projects so that the youths will get something to do in the meantime.
I also need to believe we need to deal with the issue of people living with disabilities. I know they are the marginalised people, we also need to find a room so that we formalise their associations as the local MP so that when I reach out there I have got a group which is well coordinated.
United community
(If I win) I need to work with other groups, basically a united community regardless of our differences, political backgrounds, and political affiliations because the moment I get elected I become a public officer serving almost everyone.
I need to unite my community; we need a united Mabvuku community.
I believe I have done the best during my term as councillor because I know that Zanu-PF has been in power since 1980 and the opposition was only ushered in 2000 but ever since Mabvuku was built, there was no replacement policy in terms of water pipe replacement. We came with a robust programme in 2008 when we replaced all the sewer pipes. That replacement policy, Zanu-PF never thought about it. We also did water pipe replacement from Letombo Reservoir to Mabvuku Reservoir, as we put a new water line because the old one had a number of leakages resulting in loss of treated water.
That is an achievement for us.
We also pushed for local clinics and Mabvuku Polyclinic bears testimony. There were a number of areas that needed that service and I pushed for the upgrading Mabvuku Polyclinic which is now state of the art facility. It was through my advocacy, through my conversations, with the directors that I convinced them so we could construct it. So we got a number of partners who then cooperated and assisted us in terms of that construction.
Local authorities
Currently, I believe the set-up in Local Government is not pleasing because the Minister will always interfere and disturb the progress of local authorities. There are a number of directives which are then affected in terms of service delivery.
As you can attest during our recall period, there was the Pomona issue. How can someone dare to sell the whole dumpsite area? The situation is such that when we collect garbage using our own car, we then go and pay for using the dumpsite. This was done as aresult of a directive from the Minister to sign that deal.
So, you can see that they are sabotaging the local authorities doing shady deals which then affect service delivery. Currently, as we speak, there are a number of illegal waste dumpsites around Harare because Pomona is not functioning. These are some of the things which we then need to address and separate.
I think there is a general understanding that Zanu-PF can’t even separate state programmes and theirs. They are bragging around saying they are drilling boreholes. If you check, some of these are being part under the Presidential scheme. We understand the President does not fork his money, it is the tax payer’s money. So that borehole is not anywhere near a political party initiative, it’s a government programme.
They are also bragging that they have constructed three roads in Mabvuku: It is ZINARA, specifically ZINARA and the Ministry of Finance. It is clear and on the record, if you go along the roads there are some gantry signs that clearly mention the funders (Zinara and Ministry of Finance). Our fellow colleagues in Zanu PF want us to believe otherwise. Fortunately, our members are aware that ZINARA are the ones who funded those roads like Donnybrook Drive and Mabvuku road so government must not even brag because that is the general mandate of ZINARA.
It is because they collect road taxes. Zinara needs to disburse these funds to local authorities so that local authorities can attend to the most affect roads, which now have potholes, all over Harare.
Create our own industry
We believe in a country where we only create our own industry. One good example is that we have lithium in Acturus.
We must create value, by creating a lithium plant so that our own youth can benefit from getting employment. If we go to South Africa, the lithium batteries are cheaper but here we have the resources but we cannot afford to buy a lithium battery.
So we believe as a government we have a responsibility to construct a lithium plant for value addition. This mining, extraction and exportation of whole raw materials is not acceptable
We need that as we usher in a new government with Advocate Nelson Chamisa, we will create employment through industrialisation.W e need an industrialisation revolution because we are going to create the diamond firms, lithium plants and you can mention a lot of things.
Ready to defend the vote
Pertaining post-election violence, generally people are ready to defend their vote.
In Shona we say hapana kusiri kufa. People have already died. We are suffering and we have suffered enough therefore we need to protect our vote.
As Mabvuku-Tafara constituency we are going to win this election. We are going to win 4/4 -all of us, the President, the MP and my two councillors. We are going to retain even the last ward which was slightly won by a 60 vote margin by Zanu-PF.
Remember (Councillor Scott Sakupwanya) he was a councillor there but never attended a single council meeting neither did he utter a single word at council chambers so we know that he is just coming to warm parliamentary benches. We don’t want that as we want someone who fully represents the residents and the citizens so I am aware that he is there to claim a seat and just wants to be appointed the deputy Minister of Mines so that he can swindle the gold and any other mineral because he is in a position of authority
That will not happen. We are going to stop him. That will never happen.
During the last election in 2018 the likes of Passion Java, Philip Chiyangwa they were coming out here flushing money at polling centres. This time it will not happen. We will not let it happen
So I am challenging the media to expose them so they are flushed out.
Stakeholders must monitor the elections because we don’t want vote buyers. I also heard of a situation and an incident where they are advising voters to take pictures of their votes in exchange for US$20. We will not let it happen as will advise the presiding officer not to allow a phone within the voting booth
This article was abridged from an interview between Kufahakutizwe and Review & Mail’s Tichaona Zindoga