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Maridadi pledges to fight more for Mabvuku-Tafara

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Overview of Mabvuku Tafara constituency

Overview of Mabvuku Tafara constituency

By KUDZAI MUCHENJEKWA

Mabvuku is situated 17km east of Harare, and is a high-density suburb and one of the oldest in Harare.

Most of the inhabitants of Old Mabvuku are old people that are migrant workers from countries such as Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.

Old Mabvuku also has one of the oldest schools in the capital, Donnybrook Primary School, which was built in 1954. The constituency encompasses suburbs such as Old Mabvuku and New Mabvuku as well as Old Tafara and New Tafara.

The constituency experiences some of the worst water problems due to aged infrastructure, with water rarely coming out of the taps.

Problems in Mabvuku-Tafara Constituency which MP can highlight in Parliament

Poor roads — Local Government minster

No water — Environment and Water minister

No electricity — Energy minister

High unemployment — Labour minister

High pollution levels — Environment minister

Performance of the MP in the National Assembly

Maridadi is one of the very robust and most vocal MPs in the eighth session of Parliament, and one who has forcefully highlighted and grilled ministers on issues to do with corruption.

The MP, who is an anti-corruption activist, has spoken about misuse of water funds, which has resulted in his constituents having serious water problems.

He went on to launch an anti-corruption initiative in his constituency with Transparency International-Zimbabwe to encourage people to report corrupt government officials.

The MP has unearthed corruption at the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara), Zesa Holdings, government departments, and has also investigated and unearthed serious corruption by Chinese nationals at the county’s border posts, where they are smuggling in goods without paying for duty.

Maridadi debates on almost every issue in the House and during parliamentary portfolio committee sittings, where he has raised issues of failure by companies operating in Mabvuku to deal with pollution and to financially support the community ownership trusts with funds.

The MP was instrumental in former President Robert Mugabe’s impeachment motion, where he seconded the motion.

He sits on some of the most vibrant committees, which have exposed graft — the Public Accounts Committee and the Finance Committee.

What constituents said about their MP

Clive Matarutse (an old man)

Government has seriously failed the people of Zimbabwe. Our President, ministers and top management at parastatals are so corrupt to the extent that they do not even consider the plight of citizens. (Begins to cry) The MPs are also corrupt. Look at me, I have nothing. I cannot give anything to my children. We only see MPs when they are campaigning and very soon, we will be seeing them.

Kundai Chigwiti

I know our MP, and I have seen Maridadi visiting the constituency. Obviously, he can’t visit everyone door-to-door, but he does visit people. I have seen him visiting some houses in Tafara and Mabvuku.

The constituency experiences serious water and electricity problems, but he has helped us by speaking out and trying to get the Zesa guys to come and fix the wiring because previously they ignored our requests.

Tinashe Chiduku

We know our MP and that he is very active in Parliament. However, I think he should do more by raising issues that specifically affect Mabvuku more than political problems. Grace Tonganye

Yes, we know our MP and I can safely say we need more visits from him in the constituency.

Prisca Chogo

I know my MP. As a resident of Tafara, I have noted that Maridadi is very active in Parliament. Our constituency experiences serious water problems and every day, we have to queue in long lines at boreholes to get water. He is very active in Parliament and if he could use it for our benefit.

Ethan Mapuzere

Yes, I know my MP and I have seen him in Tafara and Mabvuku. I know there are so many problems in our constituency and the MP cannot solve them all. We hope that he uses the constituency development fund to focus more on solving the serious water problems.

MP’s response

I visit people and what people must know is that it is not feasible for me to go door-to-door to meet every one. However, I hold constituency meetings quarterly, so that I have an interface with the people in my constituency.

What should be noted is that when I call for these meetings, we get a small crowd of people of about 30 to 35 people, which shows that some people are not interested in showing up and getting their voices heard.

On projects, what I have noticed is that the youth want jobs, not projects. The government has failed to give the youth some jobs and they want them to resort to projects.

I have spoken about it in Parliament and it seems government has failed to give our people jobs.

The issue of water is of great concern, and I have extensively raised the issue in Parliament.

The problem is the water system that is supposed to supply the whole Tafara and Mabvuku has not been expanded, yet the suburb is growing.

When it comes to the issue of roads, it should be noted that it is not the duty of the MP to build roads, but I have also spoken about it in Parliament to say that Zinara must do its job to fix the roads.

I have seconded a motion in Parliament to say that all the money stolen from Zinara should be brought back to Zinara because it is taxpayers’ money.

We have received the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and I am going to discuss with the people in my constituency and see how it can be used to develop the constituency.

However, as the MP, I have prioritised things like road rehabilitation and the provision of water as issues to be urgently dealt with in my constituency using CDF.