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.

BULAWAYO LOCALS ARE DENIED EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

23 demonstrators were arrested by the police last year as they marched towards Zesa offices to present a petition accusing the power utility of snubbing locals by employing contract workers from outside the region at its Insukamini sub-station.

The demonstration reflects the disheartening situation concerning the marginalisation  in Bulawayo industries which frustrated the locals to the  point of taking to the streets so that their pleas for economic  justice could be heard.

Government parastatals in Bulawayo such as Zesa should prioritise locals and not prefer to employ people from other regions at the expense of locals. Considering the fact that many local youths are unemployed, it becomes unreasonable to sideline them when availing employment opportunities in the city. 

Zesa should not have  imported unskilled labour from elsewhere when it was supposed to emancipate the locals who were in dire need of jobs to uplift themselves and benefit economically.

 

LOCALS NOT BENEFITTING FROM THEIR LAND

There have been cases of corruption and unfair distribution of land in resettlement areas in Matabeleland.

There are some instances whereby the locals of Matabeleland were not benefiting and were not being given preference when there were land distributions in those areas. Some locals have lamented that  people from outside the region were the ones who are given first preference instead.  

A number of war veterans from other areas especially from the northern part of the region  are alleged to have  been planted in some resettlement areas at the expense of the locals.

This situation in Matabeleland  paints a gloomy picture for the locals in Matabeleland resettlement areas. As the locals of those areas, they are the ones who are meant to benefit whenever there is land distribution but instead first preference is given to people from outside the region.

During the tenure of the Joint Monitoring and Implimentation Committee (JOMIC) concerns over the resettling of people outside Matabeleland were raised by villagers of various districts in Matabeleland with village heads reportedly stating that the people in their villages were having little land left for them to settle in.

The land issue has not only been of concern in the rural areas but also the urban areas with increasing popularity of purchase of stands by people from outside the region and at times, outside the country.

It is becoming a norm in Bulawayo that residential stands and houses are kept by those who rent whilst the landlords come from a community outside the city or country. this can be attributed to the low income earners of the region as has statistically the highest number of unemployment, with Bulawayo alone having a 27% unemployment rate according to Zimstat



 

DIMAF- the lost hope for Bulawayo industries

The Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund (DIMAF) had been set up as an answer to resuscitate industries in Bulawayo which has had a huge number of companies either shutting down or relocating to Harare.

However, the business community in Bulawayo had complained that the requirements for Dimaf beneficiaries to produce tax clearance certificates was discriminatory with most firms struggling to meet the stringent tax requirement.

Surely, the economic situation in Bulawayo has left a lot of companies crippled such that they cannot afford to get healthy  tax clearances in the end. With that, most companies seeking to be revived have been left in  the cold.

People in Matabeleland also lament that DIMAF is not fairly disbursed as companies in Bulawayo have benefited little despite the fact that the city is mostly affected. Despite the reported distribution of the funds to 41 Bulawayo based companies in January 2013, there were also accompanying reports that companies were struggling to access the funds.

Furthermore the DIMAF funds were launched in 2011 and it took two years for them to be finally dispursed, a time in which more companies were closing and more residents of Bulawayo were bveing forced to relocate due to economic hardships. Furthermore just the requirements to access the funds were difficult for companies that are in fact "distressed" to meet.

In particular the minimum requirements for companies to qualify to access the funds include two years accounts in the form of management accounts or financial accounts, acceptable collateral, clean tax records, projections for capital expenditure loans, budgets and cash flows, among others. 

The distribution of DIMAF with 6 months left till the harmonised elections raised suspicions that it was a campaign tool. The matter of Bulawayo and generally southern region company relief efforts was slackly handled, with major delays constraining further the revival of the city and commerce in the region.

Matabeleland youths are sidelined in allocation of loans

There has been a lot of debate concerning the government allocation of youth fund which has been said to be discriminatory. Matabeleland youths are said to be sidelined in the allocation of loans under the Indigenisation Ministry's youth fund.

The CABS Kurera/ Ukondla Youth Fund has been said to have discriminated against youths in marginalised areas, this being reflected by low numbers of beneficiaries in Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South.

The press in 2012 reported that most of the beneficiaries of the $2 million youth fund were from the Mashonaland central and Harare regions while Matabeleland youths, despite applying had almost a nil representation and reception of the funds. what further worsened the crisis were reports of rampant abuse of the youth funds, with some of the Harare based beneficiaries getting the fund more than once, after seeking funding for projects under pseudo names.

Furthermore as part of the youth fund abuse, the Zimbabwe Youth Council Director Livingstone Dzikira in the Newsday revealed that 70% of the funds were used by youths intending to get married thus what could have been thriving businesses and an injection of business growth in Matabeleland was blocked due to misappropriation of funds and misuse of the funds as well

One begs to ask if the hundreds of Matabeleland youths business proposals were not good enough or it was an attitude issue when it came to the project evaluators concerning Matabeleland based projects. 

Gukurahundi atrocities- Matabeleland wants apology

The report, Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace, A Report on the Disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands 1980-1988 gives an outline of how the Gukurahundi disturbances of the mid 1980's in the Matabeleland and Midlands regions still affect the provinces people decades later.

 "The purpose of this report is to record for posterity what transpired in our post-independence era. We want the government to acknowledge that the massacres took place and also to make an apology to the relatives of the victims and find ways of assisting the affected dependents of the victims", Mike Auret, the CCJP director said in the report.

But President Robert Mugabe has refused to give an apology for the massacres saying that it "it is not unusual for people to die in a war situation." He has even refused to entertain suggestions that the victims' surviving relatives must be compensated. The President contends that the legitimate government of Zimbabwe had a right to use any method to stem the tide of insurrection.

Even after signing a unity accord with ZAPU in 1987 that ended the military disturbances in the affected region, Mugabe has still refused to proffer an apology to the relatives of the victims.

Conservative members of his government point out that the Ndebele, Zimbabwe's minority tribe that was deeply opposed to the Mugabe presidency turned down the offer of peace at independence in 1980.

They add that the key Ndebele leader, Joshua Nkomo, and his Lieutenants instead opted for war. Thus from 1981 to 1983, Ndebele militants carried out a reign of terror in Matabeleland and Midlands that resulted in massacres of about 40 white farmers, destruction of government properties in the region and systematic massacres of government supporters and officials.
http://www.sokwanele.com/articles/supporting/achronicleofpostindependencemassacre_16july1997.html