Vusumuzi Dube
Leonard Ncube, Sunday News Reporter
WHEN Cde Philani Moyo, the Zanu-PF candidate for Hwange West Constituency in Matabeleland North embarked on humanitarian work in communities outside Victoria Falls in 2010, he had no political ambitions whatsoever.
He simply wanted to develop his area. Cde Moyo (44) won the ruling party’s primaries recently ahead of two other contestants who have, however, committed to work with him in the spirit of oneness preached by the party.
His wide-ranging developmental work includes drilling and installing 13 solar powered boreholes in communities earning him the moniker Phila Ngamanzi, which has become the buzz campaign phrase in the constituency.
He donated a pump to Mvuthu dip tank for clean water supply and has helped with clean water sources in BH2, BH3, BH4, BH 9, BH 24, BH37, BH 55, BH127, Chidobe 2, Chewumba, Matetsi, Sikumbi and others where boreholes have been drilled and installed with solar systems and storage facilities.
It is this work that gave him the edge as party members in the community encouraged him to represent them in Parliament. Born in Jenkwe outside Victoria Falls City, Cde Moyo is one of the few blacks that have broken new ground and ventured into the core of the white-dominated tourism rafting industry in Victoria Falls.
He owns Shockwave Adventures Rafting Company, one of the only four rafting companies in Victoria Falls, which he started in 2002 after working as a rafting guide at Shearwater Adventures for 10 years, and it is through this company that he has carried out humanitarian work as a way of ploughing back to the community and providing employment to locals.
His company employs close to 40 locals. Speaking about his plans ahead of the harmonised elections slated for later this year, Cde Moyo said: “I started this thing a long time ago working with the community in 2010. So far, I have drilled 13 boreholes under Hwange West constituency. I have been working with the community for too long being Zanu-PF chairman for Mkhosana and Kachechete wards. In the last election the community asked me to represent them in Hwange West,” he said.
He is also the party’s Secretary for Science and Technology in the main wing in Matabeleland North. For the constituency, Cde Moyo said he has a number of plans.
“The road network in the rural areas is so bad and given the opportunity that will be my priority. We have serious human wildlife conflict and shortage of ambulances, as well as water in Victoria Falls City. It’s an honour to have a Zanu-PF vehicle but I feel it’s not mine, it serves the community. As you can see its written Hwange West and I will be grateful to serve people in the constituency. To me it is not about making money because if I look back I had already spent thousands of dollars before even starting to campaign just to help the community and drilling 13 boreholes we talk of over US$50 000 and I don’t think I am one of those people who will get there and get money to enrich myself,” said Cde Moyo.
Cde Moyo is a professional river rafting guide, businessman, actor, pastor and philanthropist who has donated to needy communities and schools, in and around Victoria Falls. His business portfolio includes Shockwave, Homenet Café which he opened in 2000, a supermarket, butchery and farm, and says by getting into politics he is not concerned about enriching himself but to represent his people.
He said if elected into Parliament, he would work to improve the tourism industry which is the mainstay of the economy in Hwange West. He said as a tourism executive, he understands what the industry needs and this would also form a bigger part of his engagements in the House of Assembly.
He holds a degree in Theology from Immanuel University of Theology International. Cde Moyo is the president of the United African Apostolic Church (UAAC), leading 15 churches in Zimbabwe. He was recently honoured with an Achievement Award for significant contributions to humanitarian work and community development under the authority of the Council for Churches in Africa, while in 2021 the Association of Churches appointed him peace coordinator for Matabeleland North. His desire is to represent the tourism industry in Government.
“I am not going to relax. When I get in there I am going to work hard so that I represent the tourism industry at a higher level. I am also preaching peace ahead of the harmonised elections, I encourage people to go and vote peacefully,” he said.
In terms of his contribution towards the five million vote target for President Mnangagwa, Cde Moyo said his strategy would be to get every Zimbabwean to vote for Zanu-PF.
“We are not going to leave anyone behind. We are targeting everyone including Citizen for Coalition Change members and Movement for Democratic Change, among others. They should come in so that we address our challenges together. I think as people of Victoria Falls we can conquer all the challenges if we come together and support the President.”
He added: “To the party supporters I say let’s put our personal interests behind us and start working for the party and the country. Myself and my partners we are not fighting, we support each other as one family.”
Cde Moyo has on numerous occasions helped retrieve bodies of drowned people on the Zambezi River in Victoria Falls.
In 2019 when Cyclone Idai hit Manicaland Province and other countries, Cde Moyo led a team of rafters from his company with equipment on a rescue mission in Chimanimani. He has widely donated school uniforms, sanitary pads, masks and building material for many schools and communities especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He has initiated empowerment programmes for women and youths to self-sustain and abstain from drug and substance abuse, and in the process has created job opportunities for over 500 locals in Victoria Falls.
Through Youth Build, a community-based youth programme that integrates academic achievement, work experience, social action, leadership development and personal transformation for volunteers, he helps young people abstain from drugs, early teenage pregnancies and ultimately get empowered.
His vision revolves around 10 priority areas covering education, health, safety and security, economic growth and employment, skills development, rural development, human settlements, environment, international relations, public sector, infrastructural development or nation-building and social cohesion.
Cde Moyo built a crèche in his rural Jembwe in 2005, a block at Chisuma Primary, and assists more than 100 learners with scholarships.
He runs a programme called Philani’s Local Economic Development (PLED) in Lubangwe and Monde to encourage local people to work together to achieve sustainable economic growth and development thereby bringing economic benefits and improved quality of life. Cde Moyo is married to Ms Resistance Sibanda and the couple has seven children.
Bongani Ndlovu