Brighton Chiseva
As the enervating ZANU PF factional wars threaten to rip the ruling party apart, they have also not spared progress as they have on many occasions stalled development in some parts of the country.
Villagers of Zaka Central constituency from Ward 18 are crying foul over the factional wars that are stalling development in the area as the construction of Chinyamuzinda Clinic sited in Jerifanos village seems abandoned as a result of party disputes.
A source privy to the developments told TellZim News that party members are stalling development in the ward and the clinic’s progression has not been spared as they fight for a parliamentary seat.
“MP Davison Svuure and ward 18 councillor Daniel Mativenga are stalling development in the ward with the help of village head Eliot Gomo who is working as a spy for the MP blocking people who want to help on the construction of the clinic,” said the source.
Another source said villagers complained after carrying sand using buckets and wheelbarrows and ward 13 councillor Manfred Mada who is believed to be an aspiring candidate for the parliamentary seat in the 2023 general elections offered transport to carry the sand to the site but was however blocked by Svuure and Mativenga saying that he is campaigning in their watch.
“Villagers were carrying the sand to the clinic site using buckets and wheelbarrows so they complained about the distance. Mada who is the party Secretary for transport and Welfare offered transport to assist the villagers before being blocked from doing so by Mativenga and Svuure saying that Mada cannot assist ward 18 people and he is actually campaigning and from there on, things have been at stand still and these two are dragging development down and villagers are complaining about the actions of these two,” said the source.
Contacted for comment Mada confirmed that he was blocked from assisting villagers by Svuure and Mativenga.
“They blocked me from assisting villagers for reasons better known to them and this has delayed progress at the clinic. I was assisting them since I am secretary for transport in the party. I went there and carried seven loads and the following day, Svuure called for an urgent meeting that a few people attended saying he did not want people to come and assist the needy in his constituency and thus the need to stop forthwith before promising he will assist with all that the villagers needed,” said Mada.
However Svuure denied the allegations saying that he does not know anything pertaining to the issue.
“Those are baseless stories. I am the MP for that constituency and am the head of development and if there is someone with an issue, he/she must come and talk to me and I do not know what you are saying and do not see why this should start from the from the Press. It will be very unfortunate to start talking about a thing that I am not aware of. There is nothing that I know about the issues you are talking about,” said Svuure.
Though Svuure denied any knowledge of the clinic project, Mativenga said work was in progress but however denied ever stopping Mada from assisting the community.
“We did not block anyone from assisting the community and those people are actually not telling the truth. He (Mada) just came one day to carry some loads of sand and never came back for good and we are going to the site with some bags of cement to start the project,” said Mativenga.
Currently the ward does not have a health service centre and villagers walk long distances to access health services from other wards including Siyawareva and Jerera clinic as well as Musiso Mission Hospital which is about 7-10 km away from ward 18.
