adminHwange Central has 15 urban and 13 rural wards. The constituency has abundant coal reserves which are used to produce power for the country and the Sadc region. With that in mind, one is bound to think that most of the constituency has access to power and that the employment rate is high considering the high number of coal mining companies and processors operating in the area. However, that is not the case.
People interviewed by the Chronicle in the constituency last week accused Mr Tshuma of disappearing soon after being voted into office.
They said Mr Tshuma who was elected on an MDC-T ticket was not attending public meetings or gatherings where he is supposed to meet the people and discuss the issues of development. On occasions he has failed to attend even some meetings organised for him by pro- MDC-T organisation, Hwange Agenda, an annex of Bulawayo Agenda.
“As a member of the House of Assembly, he should be there for the people and stand for us on issues pertaining to development, but on the contrary he is a missing member,” complained Mrs Marian Mhlanga of Lukosi Business Centre.
She said although Mr Tshuma is a member of Copac, his constituency is in darkness on the national exercise. She said he should have organised meetings to update them on progress made in the constitution-making exercise.
Because of his poor record, she urged Mr Tshuma not to seek re-election in March next year.
A businesswoman at Lukosi who identified herself as Lady Dee said she was disappointed with Mr Tshuma. She does not even know how the MP spent the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) as they were never informed of any developments.
She said she only heard from the grapevine that he started a poultry project for some women in Mpumalanga and donated some computers to a school in Dinde.
“This guy is just a prick on the flesh. How can he be so mean even to the people who voted him into power? Manje pakalepo wakato luza ntolo come the next election. His disappearing tactics will cost him,” she said.
Some of his electors said they only saw him once in the nearly four years he has been in office when he recently made a surprise appearance at a rally that was called by the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Dr Obert Mpofu at Dinde Shopping Centre.
“That was my first time to see him that close,” Mr Mike Sibanda from Dinde said.
“He does not call meetings, does not even bother to see what his electorate and their livestock are eating at a time when hunger has struck us. Minister Mpofu is the one who came and donated maize yet we have an MP who should take a leading role in addressing our social welfare issue like hunger.
He has even failed to liaise with mining giants here like Hwange Colliery Company and Makomo Resources Mine to develop the area or even employ locals as part of their corporate social responsibility. Power is produced here and is enjoyed in other parts of the country and in the region while Hwange people only see the power lines passing over their heads.”
Mr Sibanda added that the constituency had a serious water shortage problem but the MP had not taken steps to address it.
Some disgruntled people in the constituency are angry that Mr Tshuma spent a substantial part of the CDF on poultry projects only, ignoring others which could have more impact than chicken production.
Some constituents do not know who their MP is because of his failure to keep in touch.
A lady at Kalope Irrigation Scheme said she only last heard his name mentioned when he had a car accident a few months ago.
“I thought he was just an ordinary person because since the elections I have never seen or heard of anything called MP. Honestly how can we vote for such a person in future? You can just see for yourself that he doesn’t have people or his constituency at heart.”
Hwange falls under agro-ecological region five which is characterised by dryness and low rainfall and as a result many families do not harvest enough even for their own consumption.
The other problem in the constituency is lack of proper health facilities, with people from rural parts of the constituency like Mubhola in Nekatambe ward and Luseche travelling for long distances on foot to get treatment at St Patrick’s Hospital or at the Hwange Colliery Hospital both in Hwange Town.
Contacted for comment, Mr Tshuma denied the allegations that he was missing from the constituency.
“I am with my people. Only saboteurs, people bent on causing trouble are saying negative things about me. There are a lot of things that I did for my constituency but the environment is not very conducive for me to do greater things. There are schools which now have computers and poultry projects are running as part of development,” he said.
Mr Tshuma promised to give Chronicle more information on the work he has done for his constituency but he had not done so at the time of going to press.
Online Reporter