Cephas Shava
Mwenezi – With barely a few days before the watershed 23 August harmonised elections, Zanu PF candidate for the newly gazetted Mwenezi North, Master Makope whose short stint as Mwenezi East legislator has seen some hands-on developmental projects around the constituency says given a full fresh term he had a distinct roadmap for the people of Mwenezi North.
Born at Neshuro District Hospital in 1976 Makope attended primary school at Zvirikure and Pambe before proceeding to Rufaro Secondary School where he did his ‘O’ level and went on to Foundation High School in Bulawayo where he completed his ‘A’ level in 1998 .A holder of a post graduate diploma in education, Makope also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Zimbabwe (UZ).
A longtime Mwenezi Government High School teacher who occupies several superior designated roles at one of the prestigious High School, Makope was elected ward 5 Cllr in 2013. In addition of being a Mwenezi Development Training Centre (MDTC) board member Makope went on to be elected Mwenezi Rural District Council vice Chairperson.
As ward 5 councilor, Makope made a name for himself by spearheading several developmental projects in his ward which include among several others, rehabilitating boreholes as well as resuscitating dams.
In 2020 Makope became Avhunga Secondary School head and following the death of Joosbi Omar Makope contested for Mwenezi East legislator post which he went on to win on Zanu PF ticket.
Makope whom many have described as hands-on when it comes to driving development had some tangible developmental initiatives which are credited to his names in the constituency. He told TellZim News that using devolution and constituency development funds (CDF) he and other concerned stakeholders managed to spearhead some developmental projects in Mwenezi East.
“Before assuming office my major target was to give priority to the electrification of schools in my constituency and so far I managed to ensure the electrification of Primary Schools like Mawarire, Makawire Chikadzi, Zvirikure then Rufaro and Guiding Star Secondary Schools. A solar-powered system was also recently installed at Mabhare Primary and Batanai Secondary Schools where a total of 17 houses were electrified.
Using devolution funds and CDF some classroom blocks were constructed at Schools like Negari, Rufaro, Chimbi, Zvirikure, Alpha Joy, Masaswe and Mavambo. During my short stint as Mwenezi East legislator I managed to facilitate rehabilitation of about 73 boreholes and sinking of five new ones,” Said Makope.
Going forward, Makope who vowed to give priority to youth empowerment around the constituency said he had bigger plans to validate Information Communication Technology (ICT) learning in the constituency such that he envisioned that by year 2028 all rural schools in Mwenezi North would have been electrified and will have state-of-the-art laboratories and decent accommodation for teachers.
“Our roads, clinics needs attention and more boreholes need to be drilled. We also need to resuscitate our Irrigations and make sure that new Irrigations like Pikinini-Jawanda are operationalized to the extent of feeding not only locals,”
“We have got minerals in the constituency and we want to make sure that our locals especially youths tap into these minerals. I have a vision of empowering locals so that they can be able to embark on self-sustaining projects like fish farming,” Said Makope.
Makope will square off with Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC)’s Patrick Mapfumo who is also a prominent Neshuro based Businessman.
