Binga tourism potential neglected

Natasha Dlamini

BINGA – ONE of the most common connotations about Binga is its remoteness and abundant fish but very little is spoken about its tourism potential.

A neglected airstrip at Binga centre and a poor road network filled with potholes renders the district inaccessible to would-be-tourists.

Investment in the boating industry to provide a tourism link between Binga and Kariba is non-existent.

Incredibly, it takes a near three hour drive to negotiate the 160 kilometre Cross-Dete to Binga potholed road.

The road connects to the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway.

“Any person who wants to travel would like to travel within a road infrastructure that makes travel comfortable and enjoyable. The road network that connects Binga with major cities unfortunately does not present that kind of comfort to travellers,” says former Binga legislator Prince Dubeko-Sibanda said.

“The discomfort; the nature of the roads is such that once you travel along that road, you think twice about traveling there again and it becomes difficult to recommend in any form to someone who wants to travel to that place… that is how it has affected the rate of tourist visits in Binga,” he added.

However, behind Binga’s remoteness, further reinforced by a poor road network and poor social services infrastructure, is a tourism gem.

Cold and hot springs traverse the underdeveloped district that boasts of sandy beaches and a wide range of activities such as boat cruises, boating, fishing, sight-seeing, hunting, photography and a rich local culture.

Binga, a district in drought-prone Matabeleland North, is an administrative hub created for the Tonga people who originally lived along the Zambezi River and who were relocated inland and to the south, when Lake Kariba was built and its rising waters covered their traditional homes. 

They were promised fertile lands, homes and electricity once power generation starts but to date the Tonga, who identified strongly with the Zambezi River, calling themselves “Basilwizi”– the river people, are still living in darkness.

There is a sea of poverty among the villagers of Binga, a district situated on the mighty shores of the Zambezi River.

This is amidst the untapped tourism potential enough to unlock much needed investment and employment for the jobless while also ensuring Binga becomes a tourism draw-card.

The marginalisation and under-development of Binga is structural and systematic, critics argued.

“The nature of development in this country is usually inclined to who comes from that particular place. If you look at Binga, from 1980 up to now, the only time that someone has occupied an executive position from Binga was only in 2008-2013 during the unity government when Gabuza was appointed minister.  Before that, you will realise that Zanu has never prioritised Binga,” Dubeko-Sibanda argued.

Joel Gabuza was the Zimbabwe Minister of Water Resources and Development from 2009 during the Government of National Unity formed between the ruling Zanu PF and the opposition.

“Since 1980, they have never appointed any one of their (Zanu PF) members to be a minister. That actually speaks volumes about how much we have been marginalised as a people. We think that the best way to compensate us is to build infrastructure that will make our lives easier, and better to be able to survive on our own.”

Analyst Effie Ncube weighed in saying, “the government we have now does not care about Binga at all.”

“‘There is no political will to develop the necessary supporting infrastructure. Hospitals and roads do not build themselves up but require a government with the political will to do so.

Very little budget goes towards the economic transformation and empowerment of the district, not because resources are not there but because the government has seriously misplaced priorities and interests and Binga is very, very low in the list,” said Ncube.

In a recent visit to Binga, Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu was quoted in the state media admitting the neglect of Binga as a tourist destination.

“It’s my first time here and I can see tha it’s a beautiful place…The main hindrance is  the road network,” the minister was quoted as saying.

“We will be increasingly giving this area more focus and so we continue having more people coming here for holiday.”

In an interview, Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs minister Richard Moyo claimed the government was not leaving Binga behind in its development programmes.

“The poor road network has had a negative impact on Binga tourism but I am pleased to confirm that road rehabilitation works have begun.

With regards to the Kamativi-Binga road, I am pleased to also announce that the government is looking for another contractor to speed up the road works under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP),” said Moyo.

Ncube, the Bulawayo based analyst, however said in addition to the required sustained budgetary interventions to develop infrastructure, Binga needs strategic marketing, hotels and other hospitality resources and the empowerment of locals to drive the turnaround.

“Power and resources must be developed so that locals drive the planning and development. Local ownership of local resources as an additional benefit of improving conservation of natural resources which in turn drives up tourism, local businesses and job creation, is also key,” Ncube said.