34 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE, MATABELELAND HAS NOTHING TO CELEBRATE

Zimbabwe recently celebrated 34 years of independence but Matabeleland  region paints a gloomy picture and is still reeling  from the effects of marginalisation.

Considering that it has been many years since Zimbabwe attained freedom, Matabeleland as one of its provinces should be different in economic, political and social spheres. It must have developed in a number of ways but instead we see the opposite happening.

There has not been much difference in the woes faced by the region in terms of dying industries, lack of development in its infrastructure, the crippled education system and others.

Bulawayo, fondly named the City of Kings, which had once been considered as  the industrial hub of the country should have achieved a lot more in terms of economic development in these 34 years of independence, but instead, the city has earned the name  of being a scrapyard.

While there is evidence of progress in terms of developmental projects in other regions, Matabeleland has shown embarrassingly little and no development at all in some parts of the region.

According to the Mthwakazi Republic party's secretary Mbonisi Gumbo in an interview said ofcourse Zimbabwe had attained 34 years of independence  but to the rest of people of Mthwakazi, it was not yet independence.

"The people of this land are still subjected to all forms of oppression from the Zimbabwean government since 1980," he said. 

Gumbo said a lot of things had happened from the past till now and these include Gukurahundi atrocities, political imbalances, economic genocide, unfair distribution of resources, distortion of Mthwakazi history, denial of enrollment of the locals  at institutions of higher learning in Matabeleland, denial to access bank loans to business people in Matabeleland and continued arrests and intimidation of people in Matabeleland whenever they fought for their rights.     

Zimbabwe recently celebrated 34 years of independence but Matabeleland  region paints a gloomy picture and is still reeling  from the effects of marginalisation.

Considering that it has been many years since Zimbabwe attained freedom, Matabeleland as one of its provinces should be different in economic, political and social spheres. It must have developed in a number of ways but instead we see the opposite.

THE CITY OF BULAWAYO -VIDEOS

MATABELELAND HISTORY POLITICS

The political figures from Matabeleland have been the well known heroes but long regarded as just not good enough to appeal to Zimbabweans as a whole

Eldred Masunungure in a paper once noted that "Presently, there is a deep sense of being excluded from power experienced by people in Matabeleland, Masvingo and Manicaland. A four-dimensional distribution of power would be consistent with the multi-polar power configuration as argued above. This arrangement, coupled with the proportional electoral system, would go a long way to quelling the embers of conflict that are already feeding into secessionist sentiments, especially in Matabeleland."

For instance, in late 2005 the MDC vice-president Gibson Sibanda, a Ndebele, was quoted as saying that there was a need for the formation of a separate Ndebele state along the lines of single-tribe nations like Lesotho and Swaziland. “Ndebeles can only exercise sovereignty through creating their state like Lesotho, which is an independent state in South Africa, and it is not politically wrong to have the State of Matabeleland inside Zimbabwe,” he allegedly told the Daily Mirror newspaper. Sibanda later denied the allegation.

Even more ominous is a group calling itself “Mthwakazi” or “MTZ” that seeks to create a separate state called Umthwakazi Republic carved out of the three Matabeleland provinces and the Midlands, with five provinces. The movement offers no apologies for its use of a tribal framework to analyse Zimbabwe’s present problems and its resolution. They allege personal humiliation of their late leader Joshua Nkomo

and symbolically through him, of the Ndebele.

This segregation based on ethnicity that is associated with Matebeleland is also noted in earlier examples of politicians such as Dumiso Dabengwa in ZAPU and Welshman Ncube in MDC, the twio leaders despite leading parties that are national have been degenerated to provincial leaders by the MDC - T and ZANU - PF as well as by the media itself

MATABELELAND IN PICTURES

IS DEVOLUTION THE ANSWER TO MATABELELAND'S MAGINALISATION?

Devolution of power is a system of governance in which a once centralised political – economic structure of governance transfers these powers to local government, that is to provincial and municipal structures. It is essentially a delegation of  some functions from a central sovereign government to the local government. Thus is this the true answer to the woes of Matabeleland?

Devolution of power is currently enshrined in the constitution following a resounding yes vote in the referendum conducted in Zimbabwe in 2013 prior to the harmonised elections. In the constitutional outreach programme people in the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe are reported to have preferred devolution of power to be adopted as a national system of governance showing that a larger proportion of the national population is essentially ‘fed up’ with a centralised form of governance. Based on this evidence one can argue that Matabeleland is not the only region that is marginalised but within that argument there is confirmation that the Matabeleland region is inclusive of the marginalised areas of Zimbabwe and a larger proportion of its population believes so.

However, political parties that have been lobbying for the implementation of devolution of power by virtue of their geographical location in Bulawayo, have been criticised for being regional. This is despite the COPAC findings that people nationally declared they want devolution of power to be adopted as a system of governance. 

Thus having noted this, will this degeneration of responsibilities add to the betterment of the other regions particularly Matabeleland?. To take this to account one will have to note the resources and personell available in the region, for instance the region has a vast tourism resource base with a world heritage site such as Victoria falls in it, which annually brings millions in revenue from tourism as well as the Hwange national game park and Matopo hills. Furthermore there are vast timber resources in Matabeleland north, gold in Matabeleland south, cement productions with vast sources of granite in Bulawayo province and Matabeleland south respectively as well as railway and cattle ranching business potential in the region.

The focus on these sources of revenue through devolution can provide more jobs for people in the region and  at the same time contribute to the national GDP which will further see the advancement of not only Matabeleland but Zimbabwe as a whole as well.

UNEVEN SALARY DISTRIBUTION, A SIGN OF MARGINALISATION?

A topic on note in the exploration of whether Matabeleland is marginalised or not is its salary atterns when compared to the same companies in Mashonaland or primarily, Harare.

This issue is a talking point in society where it has become the norm that people in Harare earn more than those in other regions with popular justifications for this being attributed to the high housing prices of the capital city.

However should this be the case and is this supposed to be accepted as a norm? People throughout the country do indeed have equal basic needs and share the same rights and most of all are within the same country hence should be paid evenly. This will contribute towards equal development as the national fiscus and monetary flow will be even throughout the land, save for population differences.

This issue recently came to light when the Zimpapers company was reported on Bulawayo 24 as paying its Bulawayo based journalists 60% less than it pays those in Harare. The issue of course was accepted much to the furore of Bulawayo based journalists who equally have diary meetings, look for stories and write the same minimum number of stories on a daly basis for the Chronicle and weekly basis for the Sunday News as do Harare journalists for the Herald and the Sunday Mail.

The disgruntled workers even went to the extent of writing a petition to pressure the company to pay them salaries equal to their co workers in Harare. This dire situation of uneven salaries leaves one begging to ask if people from other towns and cities other than Harare were paid just as much as those in Harare get paid, would there be as much of a stark contrast in development and lifestyles between Harare and the rest of Zimbabwe? These are some of the issues that should be brought to light and discussed in public forums for the betterment of the population as a whole and at the same time they are the issues that make Matabeleland as a region be indeed marginalised.

RANCHING INPUT TO BOOST MATABELELAND?

Cattle ranchers in Matabeleland must have been unable to believe their ears after the media was abuzz last month with news of a $9 million grant from the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) meant for the revival of cattle ranching  in the region, a noble act but could also be taken as a sign that the region now has to depend on foreign helping hands to revive.

The immediate emotional reaction will be jubilation, then it is followed by disappointment that the nation itself is unable to effectively contribute to the growth of the national herd in the Matabeleland region by itself.

 

The EU and FAO grant is specifically meant to boost livestock production in Matabeleland North province, as Zimbabwe battles to rebuild its national herd.

Elmar Sikala, an official in FAO’s livestock department was quoted in The Source, an online publication as having said  the EU grant would help smallholder farmers in Nkayi and Lupane commercialise their operations.

Under the programme Sikhala had said the FAO will be training smallholder farmers on livestock production, rehabilitating dip tanks, holding pens and also installing refrigerators at animal health centres in the two districts.

In the quest to discover if Matabeleland is truly as marginalised as some say it is, one can take some positive remarks from such developments from the donor community which manages to see enough potential in the region to go as far as pouring millions to develop it to collectively benefit the nation as a whole.

However for one to conclude that the region is not marginalised on the basis of its reception of donor funds would be overlooking how the region is lacking adequate support from its own government in order to strengthen its ranching sector. This is because this donor funding for the growth of the national herd in Matabeleland did not just begin in March 2014 but has its history.

For instance, in December, FAO launched a programme to save livestock in Matabeleland South, where farmers were receiving 50kg bags of stock feed per month. The UN agency was also drilling boreholes to ensure water supplies in the cattle ranching province.