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learnt its mistakes and has vowed not to fall in the same pit again,” declared Zanu-PF Chegutu West National Assembly candidate Cde Dexter Nduna.

The 43-year-old businessman, distinguished farmer and Air Force of Zimbabwe Flight Lieutenant (Retired), is a man on a mission.
His mission is to reclaim what Zanu-PF lost to MDC-T in 2008.

He speaks with confidence because he has done his homework.
“My work has been made easy because the former MDC-T MP has done nothing for the people. The people are starved of development. They have had many unfulfilled promises. They yearn to compete with other areas in the country and that they have been denied.

“So I have come just to consolidate President Mugabe and Zanu-PF’s rising popularity in Chegutu,” said Cde Nduna.
More than 8 000 party cadres participated in the elections that saw Cde Nduna romping to victory.  The constituency has 15 wards, three of them being in Chegutu urban area.

If the number of people who voted in the Zanu-PF primaries a fortnight ago is anything to go by, then the party is poised for a landslide victory.
Chegutu West was represented in Parliament by Mr Takalani Prince Matibe who did nothing for the constituency during his term and was subsequently punished in the MDC-T party primaries.

Cde Nduna will battle it out with MDC-T national executive member Mr Charlton Hwende and an independent. It is now a matter of time, Cde Nduna said, before he walks into the Parliament with his people’s concerns.

“Full time campaign has started following the launch of the party’s manifesto at Zimbabwe Grounds. I am confident of victory and that of my party. There is nothing up the MDC-T sleeves. I want to assure the party that I have already delivered the vote and the Chegutu West seat.

A civil engineer by profession, Cde Nduna is married and has a daughter. Two of his children died in a road accident in August last year.
Cde Nduna said empowerment programmes being run by Zanu-PF would make it easy for the party to win the seat as a number of people were dumping MDC-T to join Zanu-PF in pursuit of empowerment.

“These have been our greatest advantage. The party has delivered meaningful programmes to the people who are struggling. People have been defecting in numbers from that party. Some had been with the party since 2000 and had been promised a lot but none of the promises materialised hence the decision to come back home to Zanu-PF.

“These defectors include even those who used to hold senior positions at district level. They are realising that the Western-funded and directed party has nothing in store for them. They are tired of the party’s confusion and unfulfilled promises,” he said.

Cde Nduna has rolled out a number of developmental projects in the constituency chief among them constructing roads, clinics, classrooms blocks, sinking boreholes among other things.

“I am a civil engineer and with the assistance of my company, Badon Civil Engineering, I have constructed Kaguvi Road in Chegutu and we are currently grading some rural roads to link them with the main roads in the area as well as linking the town with the VID depot,” he said.

To save people from travelling long distances to Chegutu town or Kadoma for medical attention, Cde Nduna has revamped Lafoti Clinic in Ward 25 and is currently replacing a stolen electricity transformer to ensure power is restored at the clinic.

He has also helped in constructing proper classroom blocks for some farm schools as well as ensuring that they have good recreational facilities.
“This includes also a science laboratory that we built at St Francis High School at a cost of US$30 000 thereby serving Advanced and Ordinary level pupils when doing practical subjects.’’

To put icing on his push for better education Cde Nduna is paying school fees for disadvantage children in the constituency.
He said the majority of his projects were targeted at the youths and women because these sectors of the population have been marginalised for a long time.

“We are assisting youths to access funding for various projects that include cross-border trading. We have also given those in gold panning equipment and a big compressor they use on a rotational basis,” said Cde Nduna.

But what pushed Cde Nduna into politics.
Cde Nduna joined Zanu-PF 25 years ago and has been active since, playing a supportive role to the party leadership in the area.

“I now believe that I am mature and can assist my people in one way. I did not want to go into Parliament to seek self enrichment as is the case with guys in the MDC formations. I am into politics more for development than sloganeering. I am going in there to deliver. My wish is to see Chegutu leap to another level.”

Cde Nduna is also well-known for giving President Mugabe a house as a birthday present during his 89th birthday celebrations in Bindura this year.

He says of the man he adores and thanks for empowering him: “That man (President Mugabe) is an icon, luminary and champion. I gave that house as a way of encouraging him to continue with the good works he has been doing since independence.”

The house will soon be converted into an e-learning centre.