admin
Vincent Gono, Features Editor
AS the country draws towards this year’s harmonised elections, the political tempo is getting high as candidates start jostling for seats at all levels of the national political structures and work on the ground is becoming evident as they try to convince people to vote for them.
Elections do not only define democracy as a political system that ends there, that is the time when political power is shifted to the people to expose political laggards and those who after being voted in, abused and betrayed the people’s trust by not fulfilling their promises of voicing their concerns and bringing them development.
However, that has not been the case with Luveve National Assembly Member Hon Ntandoyenkosi Mlilo who is now facing internal challenge from four Zanu-Pf candidates — Cdes Garikai Zonde, Bornface Ndebele, Maxwell Chigerwe and Lazarus Runganga.
This was after he won the election on a Zanu-PF ticket in 2015 courtesy of a by-election after the expulsion of the MDC-T’s Reggie Moyo for defecting to the then Renewal Team. Cde Mlilo took over a constituency that had known no development for more than a decade it was under the superintendence of MDC-T representatives and his description of part of his constituency as “strongly rural” is apt.
His constituency, one of the largest in the country in both size and population covers Cowdray Park suburb in Ward 28, Ward 15 which is Luveve and Ward 16 which is Gwabalanda where there are 14 candidates that will battling it out in Zanu-PF primary elections. Two candidates have also submitted their CVs for the senatorial position and these are Cde Annah Ngwabi and Elphas Tshuma.
It is however, in Ward 28 where there are Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle houses that have been used as a suitable trophy of a political tug of war between the Government and the MDC-T-led council hence development and completion of the project has therefore remained a painful pipe dream.
Most of the houses in the suburb are just like rural ones. They have no electricity, no water, and no sewer services, no clinics, police stations and very few schools that cannot absorb all the children while there are no roads except footpaths that are hardly navigable by vehicles that are not specially designed for outdoor or for war.
In a nutshell there is a severe lack of all the social infrastructure and amenities that complete the circle of human development in any civilised country let alone in a town set up. As a result of the lack, a majority of those that live there are relatively poor and can hardly afford rentals for decent and proper town accommodation where there is electricity while all immoral and criminal activities are concentrated there.
And it seems the opposition representatives were not bothered by lack of development and the health time bomb that the residents were sitting on, there seemed to be a conspiracy to discredit the Government project for cheap political points.
The constituency was among the first four to have their application for Constituency Development Fund (CDF) approved by Parliament. Residents in the constituency interviewed by the Sunday News said they were sure if the funds were released a little early they were going to go a long way in ensuing most of the targeted projects were completed.
They expressed confidence in Hon Mlilo saying he was a man of the people with a vision of development and improving the livelihoods of the people as evidenced by the so many projects that he had embarked on.
“The current MP has shown all and sundry that he stands for development. He has managed to put into motion a lot of projects that were dormant. He has been assisting the unemployed youths especially in Cowdray Park who were turning into criminal activities by giving them something to do for a payment.
“He is youthful and still energetic and so much in sync with current trends especially in terms of youth development. He has also been vocal in making sure the Hlalani Kuhle houses are complete and well serviced, a development we never saw when we had an MDC MP,” said Ms Nicole Ndlovu of Cowdray Park.
She added that there were differences of galactic proportions between MDC representatives who she said were largely opportunists and Zanu-PF MPs who were development oriented and whose focus was rooted within the people they save.
“It is unfortunate that people vote for parties without necessarily looking at the individual’s capabilities but Zanu-PF has always given us the best and I hope this year’s election will spell a radical redirection of the country’s political wave from people voting blindly for political parties that split during the middle of the term and cause a lot of confusion while pulling back development. People should vote for a credible party and a credible individual such as Hon Mlilo who we have seen his capabilities,” she added.
According to Hon Mlilo, the Hlalani Kuhle project remains a thorn in his flesh especially that there seem to be some reluctance on the part of the city council that he believes is inspired by politics.
“What makes it even worse is the city council has failed to understand why we have Hlalani Kuhle, but that project was a low income housing project whose objective was to alleviate poverty as some people were staying in squatter camps and struggling with high rentals.
“The city council was however, saying people should pay $3 000 to enjoy proper services but the problem is that no one can afford $3 000 and upon becoming MP what I found out was that the $3 000 was already billed to people and was gathering interest. The money that the city council wanted therefore defeated the whole purpose of having a low cost housing project,” he said.
On CDF the legislator said they supplied the city council with cement worth $2 000 to make some developments such as bridges that were very narrow to allow for easy traversal. Part of the money was used to buy 200 benches and desks for the schools where Cowdray Park Primary School got 50 while the other 50 were given to Cowdray Park Secondary School, 30 were given to Mkhithika Primary School, 33 to Mahlathini and 34 to Tategulu, among others. He said all the CDF projects were embarked on after wide consultations with the residents.
Hon Mlilo added that efforts to have a police station built to curb crime which he said was rampant were thwarted after they were advised that police had no land and could not construct a police station in the suburb.
He said he was so far championing the bring a brick campaign for construction of a clinic where each household was supposed to contribute a brick as part of efforts to ease pressure on Luveve clinic and Mpilo Hospital.
Through CDF they have started brick brigades that are owned by the youths who received a revolving fund where they engage into brick making as a way of fighting unemployment and promoting an honest living.
He said he was also looking at engaging the Minister of Justice on the issue of deceased estates where title deeds to family assets’ transfer process was expensive and people were suffering with some ending up losing their parents’ properties to unpaid bills.
They have also revamped dilapidated toilets at schools in Ward 15 such as Luveve, Imbizo, Percy Iboston Primary School, Thembiso and a fowl run at Luveve High School to mention but just a few.
He said in ward 16 in Gwabalanda the work is a lot more different from that in schools in Cowdray Park because schools in Gwabalanda such as Inyanda High School were truly urban and their needs were different from those in Cowdray Park.
Clearing drains in Ward 15 and 16 are also part of the initiatives that the legislator is championing in his constituency. Hon Mlilo said he was sure that the new political dispensation was going to bring back Bulawayo industry on its toes once again gauging by the amount of work that had been done so far in a very short space of time.
derick.khumalo