The Sunday News
Lance Chigodo, Features Reporter
TSHOLOTSHO district in the expansive Matabeleland North province has over the years felt marginalised in terms of development.
In the not-so-distant past, capital projects in the district have been taking forever to complete while some suffered a stillbirth. And the people say they have grown used to it as resources for development were distributed from a centralised system of government with little focus on small but important community projects.
With issues of scarcity, priority and the politics of distribution playing part, the district like many others always failed to get enough. As a result, the state of roads, dams, bridges, sewer system, schools, clinics, dip-tanks and other basic infrastructure became so derisory and appalling.
Accountability by the offices running the district also became elusive and added to the list of factors affecting development with an audit revealing then that up to US$881 000 had allegedly been siphoned from the council coffers while money for up to 20 elephants with an estimated total value of US$360 000 allegedly could not be accounted for.
But that was then before the New political Dispensation took over and quickly moved in to implement the constitutional provision of devolution. And now it is a different story all together in the present Tsholotsho where because of devolution development has become community centered and people oriented. Its entry point is to empower communities to drive national economic growth and development using own factor endowments.
It therefore gives powers of local governance to the people and enhance their participation on issues that affect them.
And this has proved to be the right tonic to the people not only of Tsholotsho but all other areas that felt marginalised and divorced from making decisions about things that affect their lives. The leadership has managed to take great advantage of devolution which was a key development component of the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe which only gained traction under the New Dispensation under President Mnangagwa. A centralised system of government is therefore buckling under devolution in quick motion and communities are beginning to feel it in the air.
Tsholotsho Rural District Council chairperson Cllr Esau Siwela says as a council they have taken it upon themselves to use what they have on the table and have managed to develop the district through devolution funds. They have also approached other stakeholders to pitch in the district development projects.
“We sit down as 22 councillors and adopt resolutions after the councillors bring in their motions on different development projects in their areas be it dams or boreholes, we request from the devolution funds that certain amounts of money be released and the relevant departments will distribute the funds accordingly,” said Cllr Siwela
Through devolution funds, stakeholders in the district have managed to refurbish Gariya Dam which has the potential to quench a number of wards through piped water systems or irrigation if well planned and also ease human-wildlife conflict cases.
“Gariya dam’s wall collapsed a couple of years ago and it lost all the water. It used to provide the communities with water as well as the wild animals. After its collapse wild animals were now a menace as they searched for water in villages where contact and confrontation with people were now the order of the day. As councillors we realised that to keep the animals out of human habitation, we have to refurbish the dam so we engaged the MP Hon Sibangumuzi Khumalo, DDF, State lottery and we also got some money from devolution funds and work went on,” he said.
Devolution funds also came in handy in Ward Nine where they were used for the Jowa Clinic project which was started by villagers in 2010. They wanted to bridge the 23km walk to Mpanedziba Clinic which is the closest health facility to Jowa and other surrounding villages. It was a painful distance to walk for pregnant women, the sick and those going for post-natal check-up.
The devolution funds have also been used in the installation of solar powered borehole pumps in schools and villages and renovation of infrastructure at Dlakapiya and Mahole Primary schools in the district.
Village head Mr Khuluza Ndlovu expressed his gratitude over the good use of funds which has been going on saying the village and other surrounding communities were already using it as a Covid-19 vaccination centre.
“Through devolution funds we have built this clinic with good sanitation and a nurse’s cottage. We are looking forward to using this clinic by the end of the year. People have been suffering especially pregnant women, some have lost their babies due to complications after failing to reach the clinic in time,” said Mr Ndlovu.
Another good development that can never escape the eye in the entire district are the ‘town’ houses that were constructed by the Government for the 2017 flood victims in Tshino and Sawudeni. Although the development came a bit late amid delays in release of funds, those whose houses have been completed are gratified by the development.
Cllr Siwela said they were going to ensure provision of water and other services to the new settlement from the devolution programme so that the people do not feel neglected. He said they were happy that the government was drilling boreholes in the area so that people won’t walk painful distances to get water.
He said they were sure that the government was going to finish the houses for those who have not yet been handed the keys to the houses after the 2017 flood.
Devolution has therefore promoted the democratic participation of all citizens and communities in the country’s development and is envisaged to help spur the country towards the goal of being an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
