Budiriro, a constituency waiting on their MP

By The Standard | Oct. 23, 2017 | 4 Min read

Budiriro is a high-density suburb. The constituency is made up of about 30 000 households, and yet it has only two clinics and five primary schools.

By MUNESU NYAKUDYA

It is also one of the areas in Harare usually affected by waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera. Budiriro is also associated with illegal settlements and has experienced demolition of houses by the local authorities.

Last year, the suburb was affected by floods, which hit most parts of the country during the rainy season.

Problems in the constituency that the legislator, Costa Machingauta (MDC-T), could highlight in Parliament as oral or written questions are:

Burst sewer pipes (Local Government minister)

Demolition of houses (Local Government minister)

Inadequate number of primary schools (Primary and Secondary Education minister)

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Dilapidated road infrastructure (Transport minister)

Inadequate health services (Health minister)

Water shortages (Local Government minister)

Electrification of houses (Energy minister)

High youth unemployment

Legislator’s performance

Machingauta is a vocal MP in Parliament, although most of the policy issues that he raises in Parliament are more political.

He has raised issues to do with elections, and the suffering of Zimbabweans in general.

Machingauta is well-known for an incident which led to the fracas between the police officers based at Parliament Building and opposition MPs during the Fourth Session of the Eighth Parliament, when he refused to go out of the Chamber when Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Mabel Chinomona, ordered him out for turning up spotting a jacket with Zimbabwean flag colours.

He had to be forcefully lifted out of Parliament by all fours. But, apart from the notoriety, the MP has been participating in the House and committees.

What people from Budiriro said about their MP

Peter Hlukula (Budiriro 5)

He is not supporting talents, we have a lot of children who are into football and a lot of other children who are into singing and a lot of their talents go unnoticed, but if the MP takes it upon himself to support them, they will be better people.

Phatso Doubt (Budiriro 5)

One of the issues that the MP must raise is the of lack of adequate schools. In Budiriro 5, considering how big it is, we have no single primary school. Children have to go to Budiriro 2 and others to Budiriro 1.

Kudakwashe Mhlanga (Budiriro 4)

Our MP should do something in terms of creating jobs for the youths. They aimlessly wander around the streets and it’s causing a lot of problems.

Clemence Chapanga (Budiriro 2)

The biggest challenge is corruption. When the MP is donating something, there are just a few individuals who always benefit. For instance, some people have four to five residential stands that they acquired through the MP, but others have nothing, yet the MP was voted for by everyone.

Calvin Mandidya (Budiriro 3)

We need a designated operational space for small and medium enterprises because we are operating from home. There is also a lot of rubbish. The MP should lobby that garbage is removed timeously and our suburb is cleaned often.

Irene Mapurisa (Budiriro 1)

Our MP should do something about our roads. We have the worst roads and as a woman, with my age, I have decided to park my car because of the bad roads. The other issue is that something should be done about our kombi drivers. They are not careful at all and they are killing people.

Machingauta’s response

I have raised a lot questions pertaining to the problems faced in my constituency during parliamentary debates. Among them, I have talked about issues to do with water shortages, demolition of houses and unemployment. When I raised the issue of water, there was a slight improvement. I also raised the issue to do with roads, which is still an issue of concern.

One issue that breaks my heart is to do with demolitions of houses. What pains me is that it is done by the same people who give out the stands.

As if that is not enough, they like to do it during the rainy season and people end up sleeping in the rain with children.

I have also talked about the dilapidated roads infrastructure and high rates of unemployment rates, but no one seems to be taking action.

If we followed our Constitution, things would be better, but the main challenge is that authorities have no respect for the Constitution and they have no collateral will.

There is need for additional primary and secondary schools, as well as clinics. We are happy to be partnering with some churches, which have shown interest to build missionary schools.

We do not have a constituency office, so I work from my house. For some projects such as donations, I use my personal money, and I also ask from well-wishers.