The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu
WITH the election season well and truly upon Zimbabwe, a number Bulawayo artistes have also thrown their hats into the ring, signalling their intention to brawl with political heavyweights in tightly contested constituencies.
With an election season of unprecedented peace and calm, artistes have not been shy to raise their voice, believing that they can better represent not only the arts but the communities from which they come from.
However, despite their stated noble intentions, some have questioned whether artistes’ intentions are pure, with some speculating that artistes are merely trying to jump onto the Parliamentary gravy train under the guise of championing the cause of their constituents.
One of those that has had to face such criticism is filmmaker Nigel Ndlovu, who is contesting in Magwegwe constituency as an independent candidate.
“I’ve had mixed reactions from people. Artistes are excited because they feel like they will have finally a voice in Parliament. I have also had a lot of support from young people who have really pushed my campaign. However, some people are not happy and just see me as an opportunist,” said the 27-year-old Ndlovu.
According to the Parliamentary aspirant who cemented his name in city arts circles when he co-founded Urban Culxure Magazine in 2015, he decided to stand after pleas by residents.
“The reason why I ran for MP is that whenever you would go to things like funerals people would ask who our MP was because only our councillor showed up. So I decided to step up and take that responsibility. Also in terms of youth representation I felt that young people were sidelined from the major parties,” he said.
Running a campaign is never cheap and Ndlovu revealed that his pocket had bore the brunt of his political ambitions. With a shoestring budget, he has had to learn to innovate to get his message across.
“My biggest challenge has been funding because everything that I do is self funded. You can see even from my campaign material which is very cheap. I’ve had to use social media to push the campaign but still it’s hard because people ask you where the T-shirts and caps are. They have this perception that all politicians are rich. But the campaign has also grown me as a person because I never used to be a people person. I was never able to speak to people but now I have to because I’m gunning for a seat,” he said.
Fellow artiste Nkululeko Nkala, who is also standing as an independent candidate in Pumula, revealed that he had also had to confront naysayers who doubted his intentions.
“It would be misleading to assume that I’ve only started preparing for the election because this has been a long time coming.
I’m not an opportunist because I’ve been laying the ground for this since the last election. I first wanted to run in 2013 but I was discouraged by Rodrick Fayayo who felt that I should wait. Since then I’ve been quietly preparing for this current election circle,” he said.
Nkala also said instead of his background in the arts being used by opponents as his Achilles heel, he saw it as a huge part of his appeal.
“My track record in the arts speaks for itself. So my constituents should be asking themselves that if I can raise $5 000 for an arts project, what could prevent me from raising more and taking Pumula higher as an MP,” he said.
While Nkala and Ndlovu have stuck to their guns against all odds, other artistes have fallen by the wayside. After signalling his intention to contest this years’ election in Nkulumane constituency, Victory Siyanqoba’s Desire Moyo has pulled out at the eleventh hour.
“The scene just felt too crowded and I decided to pull out. I was competing with hard headed people who are all over 65 so I decided to withdraw. I will bid my time and wait for a by-election because I know we will have one. This is not the last time you’ve heard of me,” Moyo said.
Other artistes up for the challenge as independents are Prince Mazilankakha Ncube who has ambitions of representing the sector in council as a councillor for Makokoba, Lewis Ndlovu, founder of Drums of Peace who is also gunning for a councillor’s position in Makokoba as well.
