Source: 27 years on, change is out of reach -Newsday Zimbabwe
WHO really decides when a politician’s time is up?
Is it age, voters, party structures or a political game that keeps recycling familiar players while communities wait for change?
In Chikomba’s Chivhu ward 12, that question has resurfaced with the return of a 70-year-old former Zanu PF councillor, Pardon Mudzimu, who once held the same seat for 27 uninterrupted years.
Booted out in 2018 after losing to an opposition candidate, Mudzimu spent two terms on the sidelines, watching politics moving on, and now, he has bounced back.
Back on the ballot, confident, as he says, unbothered by sceptics or critics.
He is convinced that his recall is not a personal ambition, but obligation.
The by-election is for Ward 12 and is scheduled for February 21, following the conviction of Citizens Coalition for Change councillor Ishmael Maukazuva, who is serving a three-year jail term after being found guilty of having sexual intercourse with a minor.
Mudzimu will contest the seat against Fadzai Chimanikire and HopeDay Madzura, both running as independent candidates.
On the same day, another by-election will be held in Ward 7, where the seat fell vacant following the death of councillor Florence Mudzamiri.
In that race, Zanu PF candidate Fortunate Chakwanda will square off against independent Ignatius
Maya.
Last week, Mudzimu emerged victorious in a fiercely contested party primary elections, a process party insiders described as dog-eat-dog, marked by rival camps aligned to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga plotting to outwit each other.
His win, however, was met with internal protests from some Zanu PF members as the Mnangagwa–Chiwenga rivalry spills into the party grassroots structures.
NewsDay Weekender heard allegations that some voters were enticed with as little as US$3 to influence their choice, while others were allegedly intimidated during the process.
Mudzimu dismisses suggestions that his return is driven by personal ambition.
In an interview with NewsDay Weekender, he said he had already retired from active politics, but felt compelled to return after pressure from residents.
“I had retired,” he said.
“But the people came to me. They said, ‘Come back, we still need you.’ I could not turn them down.
“Being a councillor is not a profession. If there are young people who wish to be elected, they will not get that role on a silver platter. They have to observe what their elders are doing and start working.”
Mudzimu first entered public office as a councillor in 1992, during his youthful age, while working as an employee at Chivhu General Hospital.
He insists his appeal lies not in promises, but in “unfinished work”.
“The people wanted me because they want service delivery.
“They are worried about bad roads and poor services.
“They want me to continue doing good for them and to finish unfinished business. I will fix that.”
Elections in Chivhu, like everywhere else, are often accompanied by familiar promises of better roads, improved services and the creation of jobs, among others.
Yet, for many residents, those pledges have never been fulfilled.
For years, Chivhu residents have complained about poor infrastructure, particularly the absence of tarred roads in a town that traces its origins back to the colonial era.
Despite being one of Zimbabwe’s oldest towns, Chivhu’s central business district has never had a single fully tarred street.
Residential areas tell a similar story.
In Northwood, one of the town’s oldest suburbs, roads remain unserviced, households in the urban set up still rely on Blair toilets that residents say pose serious health risks, and there is no garbage collection owing to lack of proper access roads.
The situation is not limited to Northwood suburb.
Across Chivhu’s residential areas, residents say none of the streets are tarred, which has triggered scepticism about whether politicians, once elected, remain accountable to the electorate.
Last year, the council began work on a long-awaited tarred road project linking Chivhu town to the high-density suburb of Charuma, a development many residents say came late, after years of unfulfilled promises.
But speaking about his long tenure in office, Mudzimu says his record speaks for itself.
“During my time, we established schools like Runyararo Primary School,” he said.
“We serviced stands in places like Northwood, Buckenhill, and Charuma.
“And remember, all that was done when there was no devolution. Imagine what we can do now that we have devolution money.”
Some residents felt indifferent about the upcoming by election.
A Chivhu resident said elections had come and gone with little to show for them.
“Every time they come, they promise us roads and better services,” the resident said.
“After voting, we don’t see any meaningful change.
“That’s why people are asking if these elections are really about us, or just about politicians fighting for positions and hefty perks that they get once they get those positions.”
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