The ManicaPost
Ray Bande Senior Reporter
IT’S almost five years since Cde Nyasha Chikwinya of Zanu-PF assumed the parliamentary representative role for Mutare South – a constituency which has 14 Wards, most of them rural.
It covers areas such as Vumba, Bedza, Dzobo, Munyarari, Gandayi, Mururu, Muromo, Manzununu, Ndorwe, Burma Valley, Rowa, Chitakatira, Chigodora, Mupudzi and Wengezi.
A considerable part of Mutare South falls in Natural Regions 1 and 2, which are endowed with humid conditions that distinctively contrast with the rest of communal areas that perennially suffer from extreme weather conditions.
However, due to deforestation coupled with the ravages of climate change, all the glitter, especially in Bedza, parts of Burma and Mururu villages, has gone like last month’s clouds.
Few tourist arrivals, reduced rainfall activity, disappearance of the thick fog and mists which used to envelop the whole area every morning are now tales of the past. Very high temperatures are now the norm as rains become scant, truant and erratic, especially the belt stretching from Gutaurare to Wengezi.
This is the area that Cde Chikwinya has the daunting task to explore sustainable developmental initiatives for the five years she has been a legislator for the area.
At one point she had the dual role of Mutare South MP and Women Affairs Minister. Cde Chikwinya had legislative, policy formulation and adherence and development agent roles to play during the period.
As her legislative term fast approaches its twilight zone, our weekly Constituency Say column without fear or favour, takes stock of where Cde Chikwinya succeeded and failed.
She unreservedly spoke against the abuse of women and their rights in Parliament. Due to her unequivocal stance on issues that affect women, and robust support from other stakeholders, Cde Chikinya’s era as the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development saw the contentious issue of child marriages outlawed after a landmark Constitutional Court ruling.
No wonder there is consensus about her passionate and undying commitment to uplifting the status of women in society and to that end she played an instrumental legislative role. She represented both her constituency and the nation well.
The outlawing of child marriage and elimination of Section 22(1) of the Marriage Act, which for decades, allowed children under the age of 18 years to get into marriage, was the icing on her cake.
A full Constitutional Court bench ruled that section 22(1) of the Marriage Act was inconsistent with section 78(1) of the Constitution which sets 18 years as the minimum age of marriage in Zimbabwe.
“I am passionate about women empowerment. It is a critical aspect. Fifty-two percent of our population are women and if you empower them you have empowered the majority. After all, women take good care of their families, they are better parents.
“There are several projects that I have initiated to empower women as well as championing their rights in Parliament. I was very vocal on issues to do with child marriages and sanitary wear for women. I initiated a poultry project of free range chickens out of which women in my constituency are benefiting immensely.
“We have partnered MetBank and we are processing more funding so that different projects, among them fisheries, mining, poultry freezit-making, beekeeping and growing Katambora grass for export, can progress well.
“I believe in the need to have sanitary wear accessible to women. I have argued in Parliament about removal of duty on sanitary wear. I have been on the ground, working tirelessly to improve livelihoods of women under these very difficult economic conditions,” she said.
However, it is a different story on her role particularly as an agent of development in Mutare South. There is diverse opinion on her contribution towards tangible development. Some constituents praise what she has done, while others say she has dismally failed. The Manica Post caught up with Gracious Chikomo, of Ward 21, who said Cde Chikwinya was instrumental in establishing a vibrant poultry project at Muromo Primary School.
“We have seen her making efforts to develop this constituency during her time as Member of Parliament. There is what we call Boschveld breed of chickens that is now popular in the area. Other districts are actually visiting to learn from us. This is helping many women to fend for their families,” she said.
Patricia Nyabeze of Ward 15 said while Cde Chikwinya did a sterling job, there is need to improve infrastructure in the constituency. “She served us well policy-wise, we are happy about the way she stood for the generality of women and their rights. However, we still have areas that we want developed
“It is saddening that schoolchildren are still walking 20km to the nearest Advanced Level school. We have students walking from Mutseyabako to Gutaurare to attend A-Level classes. These are some of the issues the MP should intervene to address,” she said.
Mrs Jane Nyamana said despite harsh economic conditions, Cde Chikwinya deserved commendation for initiating a number of developmental projects.
“I think she did well under very difficult circumstances. We all know that the state of the economy during her tenure as MP was not good, but she pushed on, regardless. We are grateful that she acquitted herself well by initiating a number of projects and also by encouraging the constituents to explore ways of helping ourselves using locally available resources.
“The poultry projects, drilling of boreholes and construction of more clinics will go down as some of the outstanding development projects she initiated in the constituency.
“As for the poultry project, we are looking forward to having more incubators that can handle the pressure given the rising demand confronting us,” she said.
However, Terence Mkodza of Ward 32 had no kind words for Cde Chikwinya. He accused her of failing to ameliorate development in the constituency.
“When she came in as MP, we had removed Cde Kanzama who had equally failed to bring meaningful development to this area. We thought as a woman she would bring in new ideas for development and cater for the constituency in a better way, but alas, we were wrong. Where we expected to see our roads being spruced up, they are worse off with gullies. Things were bad in 2013, but they are worse off now.
“We expected her to use her influence as a parliamentarian to mobilise resources for the maintenance of roads like the one that connects Gwese Village and Bezeley Bridge from Zimunya turn-off and the other one connecting Matondo and Gutaurare. They are in bad shape.
“The youth and women business projects that were promised under the Mutare South Business Fund remained a pipe dream,” she said. “What is very funny to some of us is that we hear there are promises for women and youth projects. What projects does she want to offer us now when she failed to do the same at a time she was in control of the levers of power as a minister overseeing that portfolio?
“It’s election soon and she is now visible in the constituency, yet all along she has been truant,” she said.
Nonetheless, Cde Chikwinya still feels she did her part as the Mutare South legislator.
“I think I performed well as a Member of the House of Assembly. There are tangible results of the work that I did as MP. I admit that we still have challenges, but these challenges are not peculiar to my constituency only.”
The MP said her passion to develop Mutare South will never die. “I was an MP for Harare North from 1995-2000, and when I looked back from where I grew up, I saw little change in terms of infrastructure development, health facilities, electrification programme and the general advancement of Manicaland has been lagging behind yet the province has enough resources to boost the entire country’s economy,” she said.
In winning the right to represent the constituency in 2013, Cde Chikwinya outmanoeuvred Mr Ngaite Zimunya (Independent), Mr Robert Saunyama (MDC-T) and Mr Oliver Gwazaza (MDC).
SCORE: Cde Chikwinya gets a 7/10
