Chipinge South aspiring parliamentary candidates taken to task

BY ARTWELL CHINGWARA SITHOLE

A Community Based Organisation that operates in Chipinge put to task aspiring Chipinge South aspiring parliamentary candidates in the 23 August 2023 general election to reveal how they are going to address issues that people in the constituency.

Platform for Youth and Community Development Gender Wellness and Advocacy Officer, Cynthia Gwenzi, challenged each candidate to respond to her assertion.

“Chipinge South Constituency has several issues affecting the villagers. Some of the issues are on access to health, land disputes, education, service delivery, climate change and Human-Wildlife Conflicts. Investors are grabbing land for agricultural purposes while unprocessed urbanisation is dispossessing and displacing villagers from their communal land.

“Three years of research and advocacy by the Platform for Youth and Community Development has revealed that more than 20 rural wards in the district are devastated by land and boundary disputes,” she said.

Cynthia went further to say that women are the most affected by these issues.

In response the ZANU (PF) candidate, Hon Enock Porusingazi, acknowledged the existence of the problems and went on to say that as the ruling party, ZANU (PF) was working tirelessly to address them.

“The challenge we have is of voters who think that a Member of Parliament (MP) is there to solve all the problems. The role of the MP is to be a representative who puts pressure to the responsible government ministries to take action and not him being the funder from his pocket. I refer this to the rehabilitation of roads. It’s not the role of a local Member of Parliament to fund road rehabilitation,” Porusingazi reiterated.

He went further to say that as the sitting legislator; he is creating health posts in various wards to cater for the locals before they are referred to hospitals.

“We are creating health posts in every ward to cater for the people before they are referred to major hospitals. Our aim is to ensure that people access primary health care within a five kilometres radius. So far we have created health posts in Mashubi and Marega,” he added.

The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) candidate, Takawira Mupakati, promised that once voted into office, he will ensure that the people of Chipinge South will have a voice on how their communal land is being converted and administered by the State.

“The people of Chipinge South will be a major factor in terms of how communal land is acquired and transferred. I will ensure there are various layers of legal protection to communities who must offer consent,” he said.

He further indicated that, once voted, he will sell his Parliamentary vehicle to acquire commensurate ambulances for local clinics.

Mupakati also said that he will address the plight of drugs and substance abuse which is now a thorn in the flesh for most parents and teachers in Chipinge South. He highlighted that his vision and that of the NCA is to establish a vocational centre in the constituency to ensure that youth are trained and retained.

Army Maunde, who is an independent candidate following his split from Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC), promised fireworks once he is voted into office. He reiterated that independent candidates perform best since they will not be affected by any bureaucracy associated with the big political formations.

“I am an independent candidate and each decision is on my finger tips. I won’t have to consult anyone, but will handle all issues instantly,” Maunde reinforced his point.

He also dismissed claims that he was a hired to confuse voter of his former CCC party. He claimed that he one of the most seasoned opposition figures that Chipinge has whether he is aligned or not aligned to a political party.

Democratic Union of Zimbabwe (DUZ) candidate, Nelson Sithole, promised that once in office, he will unite the people of Chipinge South by working towards resolving issues affecting the Constituency as raised by PYCD researchers.

“Once voted, I will unite the people of Chipinge South as their humble servant. I am a God-fearing person who will influence a bumper harvest in Chipinge South during my term of office,” he said.

Citizens Coalition for Change candidate, Clifford Hlatywayo, sent a representative who was the first to arrive at the platform but later chickened out before the dialogue commenced. The other independent candidate, Ronald Mlambo, excused himself from the dialogue on the basis that he was busy with his campaigns to create time for dialogue.

Chipinge South Constituency has six male candidates vying for the parliamentary seat. These are as follows: Enock Porusingazi (ZANU PF), Takawira Mupakati (NCA), Nelson Sithole (DUZ), Army Maunde (Independent), Clifford Hlatywayo (CCC) and Ronald Mlambo (Independent).