By Artwell Sithole
Chipinge based community organisation has challenged parliamentary candidates seeking to represent Chipinge South constituency to address endless land displacements for agricultural and urbanization purposes.
Speaking during a dialogue event titled “Meet and Discuss” with parliamentary candidates for Chipinge South Constituency, Cynthia Gwenzi, Gender Wellness and Advocacy Officer of the Platform for Youth and Community Development, highlighted the various challenges faced by villagers in Chipinge South.
She emphasized that the constituency is grappling with issues related to health access, land disputes, education, service delivery, climate change, and conflicts with wildlife.
“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 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,” said Gwenzi.
Responding to these concerns, Enock Porusingazi, the Zanu PF candidate, acknowledged the existence of the problems and expressed that the ruling party, ZANU PF, is actively working to address them.
“The challenge we have is of voters who think that the member of Parliament 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 their pocket. This refers to the rehabilitation of roads because its not the role of a local Member of Parliament,” Porusingazi said.
Takawira Mupakati, the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) Candidate, asserted his commitment to empowering the people of Chipinge South to have a say in the conversion and administration of communal land 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,” Mupakati said.
Independent candidate Army Maunde, a splinter from the Citizens Coalition for Change, positioned himself as a solution untethered by bureaucratic constraints, asserting that independent candidates offer a more direct approach to problem-solving.
“I am an independent candidates and each decision is on my finger tips, I won’t have to consult to anyone, but will handle all issues instantly,” Maunde said.
Democratic Union of Zimbabwe candidate Nelson Sithole echoed his commitment to uniting the people of Chipinge South and addressing the constituency’s issues, as highlighted by researchers from PYCD.
“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,” Sithole said.
Clifford Hlatywayo, representing the Citizens Coalition for Change, sent a representative who arrived early but withdrew before the dialogue began while independent candidate Ronald Mlambo excused himself due to ongoing campaign commitments, making it impossible for him to participate in the dialogue.
Chipinge South Constituency currently features six male candidates in the parliamentary race for the upcoming elections. The contenders are Enock Porusingazi (Zanu PF), Takawira Mupakati (NCA), Nelson Sithole (DUZ), Army Maunde (Independent), Clifford Hlatywayo (CCC), and Ronald Mlambo (Independent).
