OPPOSITION People’s Rainbow Coalition (PRC) vice-president Samuel Sipepa Nkomo says once voted into power his party will ensure that devolution of power is implemented from ward level so that there was equal sharing of natural resources.
BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
Addressing a campaign rally attended by less than 50 people at Chinotimba Stadium in Victoria Falls on Sunday, Sipepa Nkomo urged aspiring leaders, regardless of political party affiliation, to embrace devolution of power.
“Governance must be within the people. In Matabeleland North, we will introduce what is called Provincial Council and 10 people will be appointed in proportional breaking from the province. That will include the chairpersons, rural councils, Members of Parliament, Senators and women proportional representation to form that council. “Among those 10, a chairman will be selected to work as a governor of the province. The president is not the one who will appoint, but he or she will be appointed by the members, that is, to make sure that power is in your hands,” he said. “Now after that, the devolution of power will come in the sense that those that come from Tsholotsho will handle their own resources. Not to have someone from Buhera to handle and distribute their resources and it will be the same case for Binga people where they will manage their own fisheries.”
Nkomo said his party was also going to end the education fights where the ministry has been, over the years, accused of deploying teachers that could not speak local languages.
“Matabeleland North children must be taught in their mother language. Nambyas must be taught in Nambya so as Tonga people and that is a problem in this region. There must be no teacher deployed to teach in schools where they don’t understand that geographical setup and dominant language, that’s what devolution means,” he said. He said local authorities had been rocked by corruption mainly, Victoria Falls Municipality.
“We will also deal with corruption as you know that corruption is all over. The councillors here in Victoria Falls, most of them are corrupt in that they are given money to put in their pockets so that they don’t represent the people accordingly.
“Those councillors are not going to be allowed to come in and fail to fulfill your wishes. There is buffer-zone land issue where people were supposed to be given land but was, however, given to those that had money and came out of Victoria Falls. That corruption must stop. Housing is a human right, but that’s not what councillors are doing.
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“Victoria Falls water is expensive, but what I know is that when I was minister of water, I put a law that water is a right. Whether government or local authority no one has powers to close water, but this is happening here.
“Go and make a payment plans. No government must close water for its people. It is not allowed by the international community,” he said.
