But the electorate has warned that it will no longer put up with such poor governance. “We have not seen any development in the area since independence. Our representatives have been alien to us because their origins could not be traced to Chiundura,” said Maxwell Chivandikwa, the constituency development chairperson.
All the MPs who have represented the constituency were drawn from outside the area with some coming from as far as Chipinge. The first MP in 1980 was the late Serial Sibanda of Zanu (PF) who rose through the ranks to become Speaker of Parliament. He was succeeded by Ennias Maodza and then Lovemore Chidhakwa, both of Zanu (PF). The late MDC-T shadow agriculture minister, Renson Gasela, took over the constituency in 2002, while the present incumbent is Kizitho Chivamba of Zanu (PF).
“None of them had roots in Chiundura. That is the mistake we should correct in the next polls,” said villager Josiah Mugandani (55).
Ndebele and Gasela lived in Lower Gweru while Maodza and Chidhakwa are understood to have been from the peri-urban areas of Gweru. The incumbent legislator Chivamba’s home area is in Zaka, Masvingo province.
“We want a leader whom we can approach at his homestead in this area when we have grievances so that he takes them to Parliament,” said Phillip Ncube (52), a builder who has lived in Chiundura all his life.
Other villagers said they were prepared to offer their labour to develop their area. Godfrey Katerere (46) gave an example of constituencies whose infrastructure had been built with the help of ordinary villagers.
“Chivi growth point was built by people of that area. This is what we yearn for but there is no sound leadership to help us achieve our ambition,” he said.
People also want to know what happened to the $50,000 Constituency Development Fund in their area. “I am the chairperson for the constituency development. But I can tell you that I have no explanation on how the money was used by the MP,” said Chivandikwa.
Chivamba, who did not want to dwell on details of his origins, said the underdevelopment of the constituency could not be blamed on him and denied abusing the CDF facility.
“It was too small. The people say they did not see how it was used but I can tell you that the constituency is too big. I did some projects in other wards. It could not cover everything,” said Chivamba.
The embattled legislator added that he in fact used money from his personal savings to augment the ‘meagre’ CDF. But the Constitutional Parliamentary Affairs ministry officials who toured the constituency early this year could only find evidence that Chivamba used $20,000 from the $50,000 grant. It also emerged that some of the projects he said had been developed with the CDF had in fact been funded by donors.
Post published in: News