THE race for the Chinhoyi Urban parliamentary seat has generated a lot of anxiety with new entrant, 24-year-old student leader Prosper Gavanga, gunning for the position pitting him against tried-and-tested Zanu PF cadres, among them former MP and provincial chairman Phillip Chiyangwa.
NewsDay (ND)’s Mashonaland West correspondent had a one-on-one interview with the aspiring legislator (PG). The following are excerpts of the interview;
ND: Can you give us a brief background about yourself. PG: I was born on May 23, 1989 at Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital. I hail from Mahere village, Masiyarwa in Zvimba. I attended Sinoia Primary School before going to Chinhoyi High School for my Ordinary and Advanced Level completing my high school education in 2008. I am currently studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy at Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) and I am still single.
ND: When did you join politics and what motivated you? PG: I started my political career in 2008 in Zanu PF and presently I am Zanu PF Rekayi Tangwena District indigenisation secretary. There are many political figures from whom I draw inspiration, particularly the likes of Vice-President Joice Mujuru, who at Independence in 1980 was only 25 years old and became an MP and also a Cabinet minister. I also draw courage and inspiration from the likes of the late liberation icons Cdes Solomon Mujuru, Josiah Tongogara, Vitalis Zvinavashe and Zororo Duri.
ND: Given your short stint in Zanu PF, are you eligible to contest the primaries, and if so, do you think you can win? PG: I am confident that I will stand and no one has the power to stop me. No chef can stop me to pave way for their favoured candidate. The rules and guidelines for primaries can be waived in instances such as mine. I have been loyal to the party since joining it in 2008 and have fully paid my subscriptions. I am popular with a certain section of the electorate which pushed me to represent them in Parliament and this is the basis for me contesting.
ND: What is your trump card going into the primaries and what would your strategy be to depose the incumbent MDC-T candidate Stewart Garadhi? PG: My support within Zanu PF is hedged on the fact that I am a loyal son and that record is there for everyone to see. There have been calls for leadership renewal and the voices have been louder this time around to have the so-called “Young Turks” thrust into the fray and defend the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the wake of renewed, but unwarranted attacks on our leaders, particularly His Excellency President Robert Mugabe.
As the youth, we are demanding our stake in positions of leadership. This will never come on a silver platter, we have to work hard to get that recognition and I am doing exactly that.
I am an honest supporter of youth participation in the national development and economic empowerment programmes which dovetails with the Zanu PF ideology which is the party’s rallying point this time around.
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ND: What would you do to transform the face of Chinhoyi constituency if elected into power? PG: My innovative thinking towards strategic development and economic empowerment in Chinhoyi is underpinned by the sober fact that this town is the capital of Mashonaland West, the breadbasket of Zimbabwe where crops such as soya, sugar beans, maize and so on are grown.
There is need to establish an agricultural produce processing plant in Chinhoyi to value-add and create jobs for scores of unemployed youths. There is also need to resuscitate the Cold Storage Company (CSC) and link it with the CUT School of Agriculture Science and revolutionise the way things are done at the firm.
ND: You are rumoured to be a member of the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) sent to cause mayhem in the party. Can you shed more light on that and your student activism? PG: The only CIOs that I know are the ones that escort the President, I don’t know any other. I am not an operative. As for my student activism, well I started off in October 2010 with my election as secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Students Union (Zicosu).
In May 2012, I was elected CUT Student Representative Council secretary-general after leading Zicosu in trouncing rival students’ body Zinasu. I am currently the Student Representative Council president at CUT. I am also a Zimbabwe Youth Council board member.
This background in student politics and leadership was a significant manifestation which opened a window in political leadership at national level and I am now ripe for service to this country. I want to be MP because I am not afraid of greatness.
