adminSikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
THE 11th edition of the Zimbabwe National Youth Games ended in Bulawayo last week with the City of Kings and now Queens coming out tops with a massive 16 gold medals, not to mention silver and bronze medals.It was a win worth celebrating for the Local Organising Committee and indeed everyone associated with Bulawayo for it ended the dominance of Harare in these Games. For the record Harare had won a record nine times out of 10 before this year’s games with only Masvingo being the only other province that came first in the games when they played host in 2004.
While Harare’s dominance in these games might have been put to a halt, probably for now, another dominant force albeit for the wrong reasons Matabeleland North, maintained their stronghold of coming last despite all the spirited efforts from everyone involved.
One will then wonder whether it’s a curse or something else because certainly Matabeleland North should not be a sporting punch bag. Even when they played host to these games they still could not do well.
The question that begs an answer then is why always Matabeleland North? Why always them? Something must not be going well in the province for what else can one say when even on certain things that do not even need talent or sweat, the province seems to be always lagging behind.
Being someone who comes from the province I know for certain that there is always something not going well in that province when it comes to organising activities for the kids.
People tend to take a backward position, normally fuelled by misplaced personal egos where you hear someone saying abenze sibone.
Honestly a province cannot do well when athletes feel as if they are outcasts among other athletes. My heart literally bleeds whenever I see Team Matabeleland North at these games or even the Paralympics.
I look at other provinces and marvel at their uniforms now and again but when I turn and look at my own province’s uniform I weep.
I then ask myself why Matabeleland North?
After 10 years Matabeleland North are still using the same kit, yes the same kit that was grudgingly donated by this giant company after embarrassing revelations that its senior management had actually donated a kit to a certain province other than where it is operating from.
I still salute the former governor for Matabeleland North, Mines and Mining Development minister Obert Mpofu for it is him who tightened some screws after being told that a certain province had been given a brand new kit by a Matabeleland North based giant company yet the provincial team had no kit.
Since then, the province is still using that same kit yet other provinces have been changing. The big question therefore is what are all these companies doing when their athletes are being embarrassed at such national events? When this old kit was bought, the Matabeleland North Local Organising Committee was led by former provincial education guru, Adam Bango and I was part of the committee under marketing.
It was in preparation for Masvingo 2004 and I remember pretty well when news filtered through that a certain province had just been given a brand new kit, we immediately alerted Bango as the leader of our committee about this obviously unfortunate incident. An audience with the then Governor Mpofu was sought and within a couple of days we all gathered at the Edmund Davies Hall (Colliery Club) where the company donated a full set of uniforms.
That year still remains the only year that Matabeleland did well in these games. I wonder then why after all these years the province is still using the same kit which I still believe was donated under pressure.
Is it a case of the committee not doing its job in terms of soliciting for assistance from the corporate world or it’s a case of certain leader (political or otherwise) turning a blind eye on their province but walking tall declaring that they are from Matabeleland North?
I remember well the late Vice President Landa John Nkomo when he said there shall come a time when companies from the province will be asked to reveal their corporate social responsibility programmes for the province.
It does not matter that you are a senior manager for a company in Matabeleland North with your origins in Manicaland, Bulawayo or Masvingo, your responsibility is Matabeleland North. Unfortunately most companies in the province seem to pay their allegiance to areas where the big chefs come from.
Look at Victoria Falls, how many tourism companies are there? Where does its majority workforce come from?
Very soon we shall contact the registrar of companies and get a register of all Matabeleland North based companies and one by one, we shall ask what they have done for the province, be it for the youth games team or any other community project.
I can almost bet my last dollar only a handful, Hwange Colliery among them, will raise their heads and say we have done something for our community.
Even the so called big politicians in the province, very few can stand up there and say I have done this or influenced such and such a company to assist the provincial youth games team.
The road to Masvingo 2014 should start now and we call upon all the stakeholders to come together and agree on the roadmap.
When Matabeleland North performs badly, it’s those who hail from that province that feel embarrassed and this calls for politicians to take a deliberate interest in making sure that local companies do find it in their wisdom to assist Team Matabeleland North.
Information reaching us is that people who were sent to collect the provincial kit at Mhlahlandlela Building ahead of this year’s games had to go to Mpilo Central Hospital to get some inhaler masks because of the dust that had accumulated.
Surely, surely with all the natural resources in Matabeleland North and all the companies there, why should the province suffer?
My heart indeed bleeds for Matabeleland North
Let’s chat on [email protected] or [email protected].
Online Reporter