Our Finance Minister Tendai Biti, soccer star Archiford Chimutanda, veteran artist Peter Churu and the majority of the State House Tornadoes players hail from the area, to name a few. The dusty Chemhanza Stadium is home to the Presidential Guard Barracks and once played host to the Nigerian National Under-23 team during the 1995 All Africa Games.
Established in 1961 to house the domestic workers serving the whites-only Mabelreign area, the community started off as a small compound.
Most of the residents were Malawian and Zambian as locals did not want to own houses in the urban areas when they returned to their rural homes during the farming season.
Another lot of houses were built in 1968, followed by yet another phase in 1969 of two-roomed houses. In 1979, Zimbabwe Rhodesia Prime Minister, Abel Muzorewa, built four-roomed houses.
Nothing has changed
Although the suburb has grown exponentially over the years, little else has changed.
Since independence in 1980, the constituency has had five members of parliament: Morris Nyagumbo, (late), Ephraim Masawi, Edison Hwadyehwata (late), all from Zanu (PF), Edwin Mushoriwa and now Evelyn Masaiti from MDC.
Of the five, only Wadyehwata, a former primary school teacher, was from the constituency. What the four have in common, however, is that none of them managed to transform the area, as no meaningful development has taken place there in the three decades since independence.
Incumbent Member of Parliament, Evelyn Masaiti, failed to utilise a $50,000 grant under the Constituency Development Fund. She managed to construct a footbridge linking Dzivaraesekwa Extension to Dzivarasekwa and to paint four walls of a community hall in Dzivaresekwa 2.
According to the MP, the two projects cost around $46,000. Although there is a parliamentary constituency office in Dzivarasekwa, most residents claim they have not seen the legislator since her election in March 2008.
“I have never seen her. I only voted for her because she was the MDC candidate,” said one resident, who requested anonymity.
With an estimated population of more than 50,000, the constituency has no big supermarket and newer areas such as Kuwadzana and Warren Park, have made remarkable progress in terms of attracting investment.
MP interference
Ward 40 Councilor, Herman Karimakwenda, said councilors’ efforts were being hampered by the interference of Local Government Minister, Ignatious Chombo, in the running of local authorities.
“The whole local government structure is flawed. Unlike in other countries where the local government is constitutionalised, here in Zimbabwe we have an Urban Councils Act that gives the minister powers to interfere with council decisions,” he said.
He added that this was affecting the implementation of agreed projects.
“For instance, council resolved to borrow funds for the purchase of more refuse trucks to improve refuse collection in high density areas, and a local bank had agreed to give us $15 million but that proposal is still with the Minister, four months down the line,” he said.
The area is vulnerable to disease outbreaks due to chronic water shortages and is a haven of crime as most of the youths drop out of school and fail to find formal employment.
Residents are of the opinion that the constituency needs a representative who grew up in the area and knows the needs of the people, not fly-by-night politicians who are only visible during election time.
Post published in: News