Political party targets Nkayi in door to door campaigns

Tecla Ndlovu

The Zimbabwe Republican Front (ZPR), a political party formed last year says it has embarked on door to door campaigns  targeted at people in Nkayi, Matabeleland North as it aims to improve rural livehoods in  the province, once elected into power.

The ZRF president Fanuel Lisenga told Community Podium that despite failing to run for president this year due to lack of finances their council and member of parliament candidates are geared to transform livelihoods in Nkayi. 

“As ZRF we have intensified our door to door campaigns in Matabeleland North and right now we have begun our door to door campaigns in  Nkayi. While we would have also wanted to conduct star rallies like the big political parties we cannot do so due to lack of funds. You will actually discover that unlike the other races we have had in the past, the 2023 race is one of those races where the ground is not that smooth, it only favours the big parties in as far as the funding is concerned,” said Lisenga. 

“The budget for small parties like ours was torn by nomination fees as the little that parties could have raised was channeled towards nomination fees. It’s only the big parties like Zanu PF and CCC which have been holding big rallies. As ZRF, we have therefore resorted to door to door campaigns which are not that much expensive, ” added Lisenga. 

He highlighted that they are currently targeting Nkayi and other areas in  Matabeleland North in door to door campaigns as it’s one of those marginalised provinces  which is still lagging behind in terms of infastructure develepment. 

“There  are poor road networks and most of the people, especially the youths, are not gainfully employed. Our councillors and MPs will make sure that should we get into government, we will  develop those areas. We also want to bring a Republic of Zimbabwe which is for all and which will benefit all people, ” said Lisenga. 

The door to door campaigns by ZRF come at a time when villagers in Matabeleland North say they have been neglected, having had no access to roads and water sources close to them for over 20 years now.

Nkayi villagers in Gwelutshena said they are expecting political parties to prioritize their needs as they have for a long time been segregated. 

“Our area  has been forgotten for several years now. We do not have proper roads, or even enough dams. People and their livestock walk for several kilometres to access water, ” said Maqhawe Nyoni. 

Another villager, Sithembeni Ncube said due to lack of proper roads people walk for long distances to board buses. 

“People walk about 10km to board buses. Right now we hear about political rallies and elections but even if we vote our situation never changes, we remain poor,” said Ncube. 

Nkayi villagers’ sentiments are in sync with statistics from ZimVac 2013 which show that  Nkayi is one of the poorest districts in the country  due to lack of natural resources and deficits in production. 

The poverty datum line is that on average, a person in Nkayi lives on below US$1.50  per day and more than 22% of the population is in  extreme poverty.