The changing face of UMP

Tichaona Zindoga Political Editor
There is a saying that the more things change the more they remain the same. Quite literally, that is the hope of residents of the vast Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe constituency in Mashonaland East.

The Member of the House of Assembly for the area, Cde Simbaneuta Mudarikwa, was recently suspended from the ruling Zanu-PF party for two years over disciplinary issues, remaining, though, the representative of the constituency.

Potentially, Cde Mudarikwa may not be able to stand in the 2018 elections, an eventuality that the legislator himself hopes to avoid.

Despite this, or maybe because of it, Cde Mudarikwa has committed his energies to infrastructural rollout that he had promised the constituents.

A drive around the constituency recently showed sprawling development in the constituency with infrastructure in education and health sectors standing out.

Perhaps the Uzumba Vocational training Centre is the most ambitious project.

The $4 million project is set to benefit the community, as it will enrol 300 students each year beginning next year when it is scheduled to open its doors, for practical skills training, empowering mostly locals who do not have the chance to proceed with academic education. The vocational centre is envisioned to admit students from neighbouring districts such as Murehwa, Mutoko, Shamva and as far afield as Rushinga.

“The Ministry of Education tells us that the pass rate at O-Level here is an average of 23 percent, meaning that 77 percent of our young people will need practical skills such as building, woodwork, fashion technology, agriculture and so on,” says Cde Mudarikwa.

“These skills are critical for the transformation of rural areas. The number one basic need is food and we will be teaching students to produce food. The second is clothing and we will be teaching students to make decent clothes. Building provides decent accommodation to our people and it is critical that the students and graduates are able to build infrastructure in the area,” explained Cde Mudarikwa.

As part of their practical work, students will be building schools, houses, clinics and other infrastructure.

He added that building formed an critical component of Zim-Asset, the Government’s economic blueprint, and envisioned graduates from the vocational training centre assisting in the building of up to 1500 houses.

But according to Cde Mudarikwa, skilled and semi-skilled people are more than a national asset.

“What we seek to do is create a skilled and semi-skilled manpower base which is cheap. And you know what, old companies such as National Railways of Zimbabwe were not always run by degreed people but by artisans and in any society we must have a pool of semi-skilled people who are critical for development,” said he.

He argued that no rural development could take place without skills development.

Water, water, water!

Bush pumps – those boreholes we all used to associate with rural areas but have also proliferated in urban areas due to water shortages – constitute such a dirty word in Cde Mudarikwa’s mouth. He says it is time to move away from them and embrace new technologies which are more efficient and modern.

“How can you use something that President Mugabe – you remember that picture of him at Gonakudzingwa in the 1960s – used? We need to move on with the times!”

It is time for submersible pumps and clean, piped water. To that effect, Cde Mudarikwa has set out to install water systems at all 26 primary schools and 20 secondary schools in the constituency. The systems consist of an electric pump, 10 000-litre tank and tap installations serving school infrastructure such as toilets and staff quarters.

Villagers are also free to use the water. Water is pumped from a sunk borehole and fed into tanks that are ideally located on high ground or knoll to allow the water to flow using gravity.

At Machekera Primary School, where the system was installed this year, a teacher told The Herald that they were happy that they no longer had to fetch water from the bush pump much less from unclean sources.

The health of the community was also secured.

“You must also remember that Uzumba was one of the places that were affected by the cholera outbreak of 2008,” he remarked.

Pupils at schools were previously being asked to bring water from home, forcing some children who lived from as far off as 10km to carry five litres of water which they would pour in a communal tank for the purposes of washing hands after using the toilet.

H explained that the system had cost about $10 000.

“It takes two hours of pumping to fill these tanks and if they are full, we can use the water for two days,” he said.

A remarkable efficiency compared to the bush pump which costs $ 2000 to install.

At another school, Chitimbe Secondary, a member of staff was elated that they could now tend their gardens for their food and nutritional needs.

Apart from schools, clinics and healthcare centres are set to install these systems.

“If you go down to it, you will find that this is actually cheaper. Our Look East policy allows us to get this equipment cheaply from China so why should we continue in the old ways?” queried Cde Mudarikwa.

Funding

But politics remain the elephant in the room in the constituency with Cde Mudarikwa hanging in there uncomfortably. His rivals and have been questioning the source of funds for the infrastructure Cde Mudarikwa is developing, with suggestions that he may be getting foreign sponsorship so that he could secure his political future in the constituency.

The businessman brushes those accusations aside and begins by stating that his suspension was only a disciplinary issue that he has accepted.

“But I cannot stop working for the people who elected me,” says he.

“These projects are initiated by communities themselves and we ask them to identify a problem which we must find a solution to. When they say we want a school we help secure material like the last time we received Constituency Development Fund we bought building materials and the communities provided labour for the construction of classroom blocks. We work together with communities and council and relevant Government departments,” he explained.

He elaborated that the water project at Machekera Primary had been made possible by builders from the Zimbabwe Prison Service and the quantity surveying by the District Development Fund while the building at the vocational centre was being assisted by members of the Zimbabwe National Army as part of their community help obligations.

Lafarge Cement is providing funds for the construction of the vocational training centre as part of its community share ownership scheme while Beta Bricks, a private sector player, has donated bricks to build the principal’s house.

“There’s nothing sinister about all that,” he said.

But it would seem that won’t be as straightforward politically for him as some people are already trying to position themselves for his proverbial tree to fall for them to pick up the twigs.