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Minister Mutsvangwa

Obert Chifamba Manicaland Bureau
CHIEFS in Manicaland Province met newly-appointed Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs Cde Monica Mutsvangwa in Mutare last week to present challenges they are facing in discharging their duties. The most common grievance was the lack of vehicles to use in their day-to-day activities, which they all concurred, was grossly compromising their capacity to attend to issues affecting their subjects.

“Chiefs are failing to attend to issues promptly because they do not have vehicles, which leaves them looking for public transport that is not always readily available, and when they get it sometimes they are treated with a lot of ridicule by people who do not appreciate their services,” said Chief Zimunya.

He said some chiefs still had not secured land under the land reform programme, yet they were the custodians of the resource. Chief Zimunya said in some cases, some white farmers that had been served with eviction notices were still holding onto land and the chiefs were powerless to remove them. His biggest concern was the way diamonds had been mined and siphoned out of Marange without neighbouring communities benefiting, even though there were the much-hyped Community Share Ownership Trusts.

Chief Zimunya’s sentiments were echoed by Chief Marange, who added that critical infrastructure such as roads, schools and hospitals were in bad shape in the district, yet it was close to a very precious mineral — the diamond.

“We did not benefit from the Marange diamonds,” he said. “Our schools, hospitals, roads and bridges are in deplorable state. Hospitals do not have ambulances, while the district administrator and police also do not have vehicles, which we thought those mining diamond could have provided under corporate social responsibility.”

Boundaries were also topical, with chiefs urging Government to help demarcate their areas correctly since some chiefs were reportedly encroaching into others’ territories.

“Boundaries were there since the time of Ian Smith, but some people now want to ignore them,” said Chief Makoni. “There are constant fights over boundaries as we speak. District administrators are not helping the situation as they are being bribed and silenced by some people.” Improper land use and illegal settlers also came up, while other chiefs felt they had been in acting positions for too long.

Chief Ngorima of Chimanimani said chiefs in the district were mostly in acting capacities, which saw them not being represented in the chiefs’ council. The chiefs brought a litany of issues to the attention of the minister, including their general welfare and erosion of their judicial powers, as some people were turning to conventional courts to overturn judgments they would have passed.

Minister Mutsvangwa promised to look into the issues, saying it would require her to do some investigations before issuing statements.
“I will do my best to make sure your grievances are addressed. As chiefs, you are very important as you represent Government, so we need to make sure your working conditions are good,” she said.

“Zimbabwe is actually one of the few countries in which chiefs attend Parliament, so that should tell you how seriously we appreciate your important role.”