Online Reporter
As the race for the forthcoming Nkulumane Constituency by-election, set for 20 December gathers momentum, our Zimpapers Politics Hub Senior Reporter Gibson Mhaka (GM) spoke with Zanu-PF candidate Cde Freedom Murechu (FM), to get insights into his campaign and what he promises the people of Nkulumane if elected into office. Below are excerpts of the interview.
GM: Nkulumane has been held by the opposition for over two decades. What specific issues do you believe the opposition has failed to address, and how does your manifesto directly counter that track record?
FM: It is true that Nkulumane Constituency has been held by the opposition for over two decades now, save for a few years where Zanu-PF won in a by-election and Cde Kilian Sibanda was elected MP. But in all these years under the opposition’s rule, Nkulumane Constituency has been lacking in terms of adequate representation. MPs are elected to make sure that they represent their constituents.
In Nkulumane Constituency, we have had an issue of MPs being elected, only to abandon their people and become “missing persons” instead of Members of Parliament. So, that lack of representation is one of the key issues that the opposition has fundamentally failed to address. Moving forward, you may know that the role of an MP, besides representation, includes the oversight of other development agents and the local authority.
The local authority has failed dismally in terms of service delivery in Nkulumane. We talk of sewer infrastructure and refuse collection. As we speak right now, if you go to an area like Sekusile, they have gone for three months without refuse collection, and this has become a very serious issue — a threat to our health.
While the core role of an MP may not directly involve development, these problems force me, as an aspiring candidate, to ensure these issues are addressed. It is part of the oversight function to make sure that the organisations responsible are put to task regarding all those issues.
GM: How does your experience as the Zanu-PF Bulawayo Provincial Youth Chairperson uniquely qualify you to represent a diverse and established urban constituency like Nkulumane?
FM: My experience as the Provincial Youth League Chairperson has helped immensely in making sure that I can represent this very diverse urban constituency.
It is the youth who often bear the brunt when it comes to economic hardships and all the challenges faced within our communities. That understanding puts me in a better position to represent the people of Nkulumane because I fundamentally understand the challenges that the youth face.
I am determined because of the support and push I receive from the constituents I represent, especially the youth, who are now the majority in our demography. That experience of being a youth leader is vital because all the issues affecting our people affect the youth the most.
We come from homes where we have our parents, mothers, grandmothers, fathers, and extended families. Most responsibilities are placed on the youth to take action. If there is no food, you are expected as the youth to go and work with your hands and provide for the family. The youth are the ones who are sent around to do things at home and in the community. Even traditionally, the youth are given a huge responsibility at community and household level.
That experience has put me in a pole position to make sure that I represent my communities effectively.
GM: What are the most pressing infrastructure or service delivery challenges in Nkulumane and what is your precise 100-day plan to address them if elected?
FM: The most pressing issues affecting Nkulumane Constituency right now in terms of service delivery are water supply, crime and safety and youth development. We are facing perennial water challenges because of the Bulawayo City Council’s failure to pump water into our homes, which has led us to resort to boreholes.
Boreholes initially made Zanu-PF unpopular when we were voted out of the council because the opposition claimed we were turning urban areas into rural ones. Yet, the local council run by Zanu-PF had foreseen the problems that would arise from the rapid growth of our city, particularly regarding water.
The short-term plan was drilling boreholes; the long-term plan was the Gwayi-Shangani Dam and Nyamandlovu Aquifer projects. My 100-day plan is to ensure we drill more boreholes in Nkulumane Constituency and solarise them so that we do not just use bush pumps. We will modernise our water supply systems by installing taps and tanks and solarising the systems.
We have had serious incidents where people are killed in the streets. While this is a small number, one life lost is a very huge number to us as a community. We value life. Crime also involves drug and substance abuse. This has become a serious threat to national security and to our future as the youth.
The issue of unlit streets — there are no street lights, and the streets are always dark — which makes the community fertile ground for criminality. People are no longer safe.
My 100-day plan involves intensifying the neighbourhood watch committees, equipping them with modern equipment, and addressing the lack of street lights.
Furthermore, we need to deal with the drug peddlers who roam the streets.
We will work with the local police, neighbourhood watch committee, women, and youth groups to ensure these peddlers are uprooted from our communities, as they are destroying the moral and family fabric.
People, especially the youth, are taking drugs because they purport to have nothing to do; they spend much of their time idling.
My 100-day plan will focus on youth development. We need to ensure we have a youth centre in Nkulumane to develop the youth by providing them with skills to work with their own hands, and promoting awareness, talent grooming and sports.
Furthermore, we need to resuscitate recreational spaces like parks, which the council converted into community gardens.
While we need nutritious food, we are denying young people time to play and grow their minds. Resuscitating these recreational places will help develop our youth and keep them away from danger.
Finally, in terms of Health Service Delivery, which is lacking, we will partner with existing health infrastructure, clinics and surgeries, and make sure that we give the service that our people require.
We will also do community healthcare outreaches, bringing doctors straight to the people, and advocating for affordable healthcare.
For instance, we have already spoken to one doctor who has a surgery at Muneti Shopping Centre such that people from Nkulumane Constituency should be afforded a US$5 consultation fee instead of US$20. That is affordable, based on the current charges by health institutions.
GM: By-elections often suffer from low voter turnout. What is your strategy to energise the Nkulumane electorate, particularly young voters, to participate in the December 20th poll?
FM: Yes, usually by-elections are marked by a low voter turnout, but as a party, we are employing quite a number of strategies to make sure that we energise the people of Nkulumane to stand up and go and vote. I also believe that this time around the number will grow a little bit because there is a lot at stake. Seeing the number of participants growing to nine, which is a very big number, simply shows that there is competition, and quite a number of people are going to come out to vote.
Our strategy is to go near their doorstep and encourage them to come out and vote because it is their voice; it is about the development and representation of the community.
We are telling the people of Nkulumane that this election matters because it is their voice. We are trying our level best to make sure that we energise, especially the youth. The youth normally don’t turn up to vote because they feel that there is nothing in it for them.
So, we are trying to tell them that everything is on the ballot. If it’s healthcare, water, education, social welfare, crime and so forth — it’s there on the ballot. We are trying to convince the youth and the people of Nkulumane to know that all their aspirations are on the ballot on December 20th, and we are encouraging them to make sure that they go and vote.
GM: If elected, how will you ensure consistent, non-partisan communication and engagement with all residents of Nkulumane, regardless of their political affiliation?
FM: If elected as the MP for Nkulumane Constituency, I will make sure that I become non-partisan. Once you are elected by the people, regardless of the numbers, you are the MP and now represent everyone, not just those from one party, but the people of Nkulumane. If you noticed, the late MP used a structure where he invited quite a number of political players, community players, residents’ associations, and political parties, and formulated a community development organisation of some sort.
In my case, if I win, I will create a Constituency Development Committee (CDC) where we bring in quite a number of people. We will consult the community to make sure that it brings everyone from within. We talk of vendors, we talk of war veterans, we talk of the informal traders, we talk of churches; the entirety of our community structures should be involved.
So, that is how we are going to work together with the community to make sure that whatever decisions taken are not political. I will no longer be representing the party only, but I will be representing the people of Nkulumane.
GM: Given the high stakes of this by-election, how confident are you in the current unity and mobilisation strategy of the Zanu-PF structures on the ground in Nkulumane?
FM: I am very confident that this time around we are going to win this by-election because of the strategy our party is employing. We are very united as party structures in Bulawayo and in Nkulumane Constituency. The fact that I got into the race, uncontested in the primaries, and was elected shows that there is unity in our party structures in Nkulumane Constituency.
The constituents and the leadership have confidence in my leadership and me as a person. So, I am very confident that this time around we are going to win. The morale is very high in the camp. People are campaigning, doing their door-to-door as we speak right now.
The strategy that we are employing, that of consulting the people themselves on the ground and soliciting votes from them at a grassroots level, I think will assist us to get organic voters from the people of Nkulumane.
We are trying our level best to make sure that we win their hearts, not just their minds. Our campaign strategy is very clear: we want to make sure that we win people’s hearts so that tomorrow when we meet, we don’t run away from each other.
We want to make sure that we lead by the mandate that comes from the people themselves. So, we are going out there to look for a mandate from the people and make sure that we develop our constituency.
Bongani Ndlovu