The suburb is adjacent to the Midlands State University and is the only one controlled by an MDC-T councillor in the Chiundura constituency represented in Parliament by Zanu (PF) provincial chairman, Kizitho Chivamba.
In a survey conducted by The Zimbabwean in the suburb, it was established that only nine households out of 145 have been electrified by Zesa since they were built way back in 2009. In sharp contrast, servicing done by the Gweru city council around that time gives a picture of a normal suburb. Water runs from the taps, roads networks are in good shape and the sewer reticulation system also functions well.
The owners of the electrified units all live in Harare and have turned their properties into boarding houses, in which they let rooms to students from MSU who fail to get accommodation at the varsity campus. Each room is shared by at least four students who pay a monthly rental of about $100 each. Houses located at number 1035 and 1036 are both owned by a person only identified as Kwashirai, who lives in Harare. Another one with 10 rooms is located at number 1142 and the owner is Angela Masawi who also lives in Harare.
Social crisis
House number 1288 is owned by Moses Marecha, the MDC-T councillor for the ward who lives in the suburb. He explained that the residents believe that political discrimination is at play because all their efforts to engage Zesa over the delays in electrifying their homes have been ignored. The power crisis is causing a social crisis
A copy of a letter in possession of The Zimbabwean written on 13 August 2014 by Marecha to Zesa General Manager King Dube, indicates that Zesa is aware of the problem as it was stamped by the power utility in acknowledgement of receipt.
Part of it reads: “Your effort to electrify KMP suburb is highly laudable. However, after consulting other residents I am reliably informed that you are targeting certain people from Harare who own boarding houses in the suburb. I write to emphasise that it is both in your interest and that of the community to switch on everyone with a completed house.”
Punished
The councillor received no response and all his efforts to follow up did not succeed as he was denied access to the Zesa manager. “It’s politics at play because the people in this suburb are believed to be MDC-T supporters. They are being punished for snubbing Zanu (PF). Some threats to that effect were made prior to the 2013 elections, when Zanu (PF) officials told residents that they were supposed to ‘correct the mistake’ of 2008 – which was voting for MDC-T.
“What pains us is that some people linked to top Zanu (PF) officials are having their houses connected with power while they do not even live here. If a person next door to the connected house approaches Zesa, they are turned away,” said Marecha.
Trainos Nyere, 48, the KMP suburb’s development committee chairperson who completed construction of his own house in 2012, said he wrote a letter to Zesa last year on behalf of others, complaining about the unfair electrification exercise.
Anger
“We gathered as individuals in this community and said let us approach Zesa directly as we are the affected people. So I wrote a letter to them after they had snubbed the councillor. However, we were also turned away as they kept saying they are not yet ready to connect us,” he said.
Affected residents expressed anger over what they described as unfair treatment. Mother of two, Rebecca Shambare, who owns a seven-roomed house completed in 2011, said lack of power had reduced them to a disaster.
“We have challenges ranging from access to information because we cannot switch on media gadgets like radios and televisions. I have two children, one in primary and another in secondary school, who are faced with the challenge of studying at night while doing basic chores which need power like cooking and ironing. Zesa’s treatment of us is unfair,” she said.
Costa Mutambanengwe of 1158, whose five-bedroomed house was completed in 2010, said staying for five years without power in this modern era is torturous. “If connected, we can actually give Zesa more revenue because nowadays there is this pre-paid supply system. We have even offered to pay all the costs necessary for us to have connections. But nobody has listened to us,” he said.
Dube promises
Zesa General Manager King Dube said it was not the policy of the power utility to discriminate against customers wishing to get their households connected. Despite earlier on having professed ignorance about the KMP problem, he later said Marecha’s letter was not factual and so he could not act upon the issues raised.
“The letter from the councillor was not factual. In fact he was saying he got the information from rumours so we did not act upon it. Now that the issue has been raised by the media, we will send someone soon to the area to find out what is happening. We do not meddle in politics and any Zimbabwean should be connected to the power grid if they so desire. We will pursue this issue,” said Dube.
Post published in: News