The Zanu PF juggernaut rolled into the small mining town of Bindura as the party’s politburo and senior government officials arrived in their chauffeur-driven luxury cars to attend the 19th annual conference.
President Emmerson
Mnangagwa and his two lieutenants, Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi flew
in on two helicopters.
It was the top of the range SUVs and other all-terrain
vehicles that caught the eyes of the people of Bindura.
Politburo members, cabinet ministers and other senior party
and government officials chose to attend the conference from Harare, hence the
influx of the wide variety of vehicles that rolled into the mining town.
However, with proceedings going on at the Bindura
University of Science Education, the ordinary people chose to go on with their
business as usual, indicating that the sideshow was an unnecessary distraction
as they decided to seek the elusive money with poverty levels quite high in the
province.
Mashonaland Central remains one of the poorest provinces in
Zimbabwe despite being home to large deposits of gold, nickel and chrome, among
other minerals.
In interviews around the town, residents said the Zanu PF
conference was for the top officials who were not worried about looking for
money while the people were struggling to make ends meet.
“We have to earn a living and the good thing is that they
have limited the numbers because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but all the same
that is a meeting for the rich and famous so we would rather be working as
usual,” a vendor Anesu Chanetsa said.
A foreign currency dealer at one leading retail shop
expressed ignorance of the proceedings at the annual conference, adding that
the roadshow had nothing to do with the ordinary people.
“We do not gain anything from that meeting and all the same
these chefs are not even staying here and have chosen to drive themselves in their
luxury cars from Harare,” he said.
Cecilia Kudzwayi, an informal trader, said the levels of
poverty in the province was very high, calling on the leaders, both in
government and the ruling party to consider the plight of the ordinary folks.
“People are struggling even to afford a single decent meal
on a day and our leaders should meet the people to understand their plight
before they hold these conferences while enjoying themselves,” she said.
Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs minister Monica Mavhunga
highlighted the challenges faced by people in the province.
The province does not have even a provincial hospital.
Two of the districts in Mashonaland Central, Mbire and
Muzarabani, do not have government hospitals, according to Mavhunga.
Provincial chairman, Kazembe Kazembe also highlighted
challenges associated with unequal distribution of resources, saying there were
fights among youths on the various mines in the province. Standard
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