Cephas Shava
Mwenezi North Member of Parliament (MP) Master Makope, who commenced consulting the people of his constituency to come up with what he termed a sustainable people driven constituency plan, said his development plan will be inclusive of all.
He said he had fresh massive and inclusive long and short term plans for the people of Mwenezi North.
The 47-year old politician promised to apply the bottom up approach in his development initiatives saying he had bigger plans to empower everyone in his constituency with priority also given to youths and women empowerment after painstaking consultations with locals themselves on the nature of the development which they prefer most in their respective areas.
“So far we have areas like Murove, Pambe, Murawi and Dhiziri which need clinics as a matter of urgency. People in those areas are walking long distances to access health facilities and so far we have tabled the construction of clinics in those respective areas to be on our major priority list and I can assure you that very soon tangible works will be apparent,” said Makope.
Makope who promised to work flat out in ensuring access to clean water to villagers said he had plans with regards to giving special attention to water and sanitation issue.
“Having previously rehabilitated several boreholes we also need to repair more and sink new ones. There are bigger plans to establish water harvesting and water conservation system across all corners of the constituency.
“We have got plans to ensure that water from Manyuchi Dam benefits people of Mwenezi North and we are going to insert water pipes right from the dam to supply water to local schools, clinics and Irrigations across Mwenezi North. We have several Irrigation projects that needs to be pushed around the constituency,” added Makope.
With some hands-on developmental programs which were initiated during his short stint as then Mwenezi East legislator, Makope promised that some incomplete projects will be finished off while fresh ones are on the cards for implementation.
He said he will try his level best to do away with the donor dependency syndrome which had previously been the norm in communities, insisting that he will make sure that whenever meetings are convened with locals it will not be about giving each other handouts but gathering for planning purposes on how development can be driven locally in a sustainable way with local’s full input.
“We started the Pikinini-Jawanda Irrigation Scheme and very soon it will be complete and we are expecting extensive production which is going to go beyond Mwenezi. Existing Irrigations like Murove are going to be reinvigorated for massive production.
“Our priority is to work for the betterment of everyone in the constituency with special attention given to youths, women and the disabled to empower them such that they engage in productive farming as well as venture in locally unexplored areas like mining. Talent identification in schools and construction of laboratories as we prioritise Information Communication Technology (ICT) learning is also among our key agenda in Mwenezi North.
“Working together with our councilors and other concerned stakeholders we are targeting to ensure that our local civil servants get the chance to have stands which they will pay through affordable payment plans,” He said.
Makope bemoaned the current state of road networks in the constituency and vowed that by the end on his five-year term he would have ensured that about 95% of schools in the constituency are electrified.
Makope is former Avhunga Secondary School head who became Mwenezi East legislator through a by-election following the death of Joosbi Omar.
He went on to contest in the newly gazetted Mwenezi North on a Zanu PF ticket where he garnered 13 945 votes against Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC)’s Patrick Mapfumo who reaped 3373 votes.
