Last week Thursday Vice President Joseph Msika addressed two rallies in Manicaland that were major flops.
On the first rally at Rukweza Primary School in Nyazura, Msika addressed the rally that was attended by less than 1000 adult people with majority of them being school children.
As if that was not enough, more sadness was awaiting at Murambinda Primary school later in the afternoon, as Msika was welcomed by more school children than adults.
At Murambinda Growth Point shop owners were forced to close their business and forced to attend the campaign rally. But the residents at Murambinda remained adamant and did not attend the rally.
Instead some people were found roaming around shop verandas waiting for the shops to be opened while others remained home.
A shop owner told this paper that a Zanu (PF) campaign committee in the area instructed them to close their businesses and attend the campaign rally.
We were told to close our shops and bars in order for the people to pay attention to the Vice President’s visit. We were warned of unspecified action if we were to heed their calls. But why should we be forced to close our shops? We do not have anything to do with Zanu (PF), said the shop owner who did not attend the rally.
On Friday Vice President Joyce Mujuru addressed a very pathetic crowd at Emmanuel Mission School in Ruwangwe, Nyanga. School children were a common sight with less than 1000 adults attending the rally.
Addressing the rally Joyce Mujuru she had noted that the attendance was pathetic and said: Gore rino takaronga kuti marally anoitwa mumawards. Hazvinei nehushama hwenyu asi musangano weZanu (PF) unozvipira kuaddressa kana vanhu vaviri chaiwo. (This year we decided that campaign rallies be done at ward levels. You are very few here but Zanu (PF) party can address even two people.)
A Zanu (PF) member of the organizing committee of the rally said: We sent messages in all the villages house by house inviting the people for the rally, but we are at pains to see that the people have not responded positively.
Some senior Zanu (PF) senior members this week said this was a sure sign that victory for Zanu (PF) will not be rosy.
Said a senior Zanu PF) member: I have never seen such poor attendances in my life. It shows that the people are already showing that they will not vote for Zanu (PF).
Another member said: If all these people were to be counted into votes then mudhara ari patight (Mugabe will lose). It will not be easy for the party (Zanu (PF) to win this election because the attendances during all the rallies by the top officials have been pathetic. Mai Mujuru (Vice President Joyce Mujuru) was in Honde Valley recently at the launching of Cashew nuts and attendance by the villagers was also very poor. It means that things are not well.
The member said rigorous campaign was needed by Zanu (PF) aspiring candidates if they were serious of winning the elections.
We are Fed Up, say War Veterans
*Simba Makoni gains ground and is called the Special One
MUTARE – War veterans in Manicaland have said that they are fed up of empty promises and are tired of being used by Robert Mugabe and the ruling party Zanu (PF) and have called Simba Makoni as the Special One.
Information available reveals that a large number of war veterans have vowed to vote for the opposition on March 29 watershed elections if their demands are not solved immediately.
The war veterans have accused Mugabe of forgetting them after he gave civil servants hefty salaries.
An angry war veteran who spoke to this paper said: We are tired of being used. We have been promised many things but it seems that we are being forgotten. We have tried to raise the issue with Mugabe through our leadership but nothing has materialized. Why did he give the soldiers that money yet we are suffering. He (Mugabe) promised to give us salaries that are almost the same as those of other civil servants.
They only want us to attend their rallies and vote them into power. Do we vote with empty stomachs? Do we attend their rallies and meetings with empty stomachs? asked another war veteran.
Impeccable sources have said that Zanu (PF) has lost a bigger number of war veterans in recent weeks.
Said the source: As war veterans we now know what Zanu (PF) is. We are tired of empty promises. We are being treated as kids. It is high time we want to show the party that we are not fools. Right now few war veterans are still at Zanu (PF) but the truth of the matter is that war veterans will vote for the opposition. To be precise we are going for Simba Makoni.
The source, a war veteran himself, further said that Simba Makoni has already won the hearts of many because he knows exactly what happens in Zanu (PF).
Simba Makoni knows that Zanu (PF) is full of cowards. He has been in the party for long and he knows Zanu (PF) like inside of his hand so he is the right man who can remember us. He is one of us. He has been abused at Zanu (PF) and his anger that led him to challenge Mugabe is the same anger that we have now. War veterans are almost destitutes and we are leading a life full of hell. They have completely forgotten us. Enough is enough we are with Simba (Makoni), said the source with a voice that was full of emotions.
It is believed that many war veterans in Manicaland are backing Simba Makoni for Presidency. Makoni seem to have won a number of war veterans in areas in and around Rusape and Nyanga.
It has, however, emerged that another section of war veterans in Mutare have shown interest on Morgan Tsvangirai.
At a rally at Sakubva stadium a couple of weeks agoTsvangirai said war veterans gave their loyalty to the cause of the liberation of the country and they have only remembered Zanu (PF) as the party for liberation for 28 years.
But the truth is that the war veterans are among the most exploited of our people. Their courage is no defense against the devastation brought by the dictatorship. If the war veterans want to know what the government could have done for them, they need to look at other nations of the world. In those countries war veterans are loved and respected by all the people. War veterans are represented in cabinet honored for their services and helped with medical care, housing and education for their children, said Tsvangirai amid applause from the gathering.
He added that the war veterans have been neglected for 28 years and they are not getting any younger. The time to help them is now, said Tsvangirai.
Some MDC supporters could be heard saying: Vaudze Tsvangirai mawar vet iyaya arikushandiswa. Vanechinyi izvozvi. (Tell them Tsvangirai, these war veterans are being used. What of significance do they have to show us).
Tsvangirai said an MDC government will establish national trust funds to aid war veterans
We must rebuild our nation as one family and take special care in our family for those who have special claims on us, he said.
Zanu (PF) Heading for Massive Loss in Urban Centres
*As Mutare residents label the city commission as the worst ever
MUTARE – THE residents of Mutare have blamed the Government through the Ministry of Local Government and Urban Development headed by Ignatius Chombo for resolutely failing to act or stamping out growing corruption in the Commission running the affairs of Mutare city.
War veterans Fungai Chaeruka the Chairman and Irene Zindi Vice Chairman are the ones that are perpetrating and influencing rotten corruption that has run down service delivery in the city of Mutare.
Given their long duration in the Mutare City Commission, this is going to have a telling effect and very dangerous precedents on Zanu (PF) in as far as elections penciled for 29 March are concerned.
Residents have that these commissioners are not concerned with the development of the city but they are taking this opportunity to milk a struggling city of its limited resources.
The residents also added that this does not only show their greediness but shows their ineptitude towards corporate governance and responsibility.
Service delivery in the city has come to its worst. Some residents in some sections of Sakubva, Dangamvura and Chikanga have been going for months without water while refuse collection in all parts of the city has become a thing of the past.
Garbage is dumped everywhere in the streets blocking roads and it has become both a health hazard and a death trap.
Public transport is failing to maneuver freely as a result of garbage that is being dumped besides the roads.
Information received by highly impeccable sources within the council has revealed that refuse trucks are parked at the council workshop, as they have broken down.
However, the sources have said that some parts including tyres of the refuse trucks were stripped by Zindi and were taken to her vehicles at her farm.
It is also reported that all the workshop mechanical tools are all at Zindi’s farm and a mechanic is allegedly working at the farm servicing her vehicles.
Sensing the unforeseen dangers in the forthcoming harmonised elections concerned party activists have said this has come at a time when Zimbabweans are longing for change of Government.
Massive debate has been raging on the incalculable confrontations Zanu (PF) campaign will face and whether victory would be conquered.
Hence, the Zanu (PF) party in Manicaland has doubts whether it will win a single ward seat in the city centre.
Some have blamed the Government for failing to take action and instill confidence back to the people by taking this case seriously and perhaps take apt action against the two.
The Governor of Manicaland Tinaye Chigudu has tried to intervene but it seems that Chaeruka and Zindi have other forces above who are on their side, as they have not taken Chigudu seriously.
Dydmus Mutasa and Ignatius Chombo are said to be the ones that are protecting the corrupt city commissioners.
A senior Zanu (PF) activist and central committee member said Chaeruka and Zindi should not only feel ashamed but more importantly unfortunate for their soiled greed.
As a staunch Zanu (PF) supporter, these are the people who are tarnishing the image of the party. Varikushaisha musangano. And if we lose in Mutare Central then they will be the ones who would have contributed to the loss. I feel that the deserving penalty these two should get is expulsion from the Mutare Commission and the ruling party, Zanu (PF) before the elections in order to restore the confidence of the urban populace.
President Robert Mugabe has been fighting corruption and has been urging leaders and authoritative persons not to abuse their powers in perpetrating corruption but these two (Chaeruka and Zindi) are actually doing the opposite, fumed the Zanu (PF) central committee member.
Another Zanu (PF) activist and senior party member in Manicaland said it was obvious that Zanu (PF) will lose in Mutare.
It clearly shows that these commissioners are not concerned with the development of the city but they are taking this opportunity to milk a struggling city of its limited resources. So if we were to be reasonable, will the people vote for Zanu (PF) when things are like that? he questioned.
The senior Zanu (PF) official added that corruption perpetrated by Chaeruka and Zindi is the kind of corruption that is affecting every sector of the economy as well as the social framework of the city.
Besides deplorable and waning service delivery in the city, Chaeruka and Zindi are alleged to have over-rode and secretly requested the Government to approve hefty perks, which included vehicles and commercial stands among other benefits.
Zindi is alleged to have been eyeing a Nissan Wolf while Chaeruka wanted an Isuzu double cab. On top of that, it is also alleged that Zindi wanted to buy a council house she is staying at a 40 percent of the actual cost.
As if that is not enough Mutare City council has been losing thousands of litres of petrol and diesel meant for the city council vehicles through abuse of power by Chaeruka and Zindi.
It is reported that Chaeruka is selling the fuel on black market. It is reported that when Chaeruka was appointed as the chairman of the commission running the affairs of Mutare city, he owned a truck, a Nissan Hardbody and it is reportedly said that he now owns four trucks including a heavy duty truck known as Gonyet.
The two are also said to be abusing council property and vehicles that are doing personal work at their farms in Burma Valley, about 50km south of Mutare.
Efforts to get comments from Chaeruka and Zindi were fruitless at the time of going to the press as their mobile phones were continuously unavailable.
Post published in: Opinions