State of Marondera Central Constituency
Greetings my fellow residents, I write to you in these times of hardships, the residents of our town are struggling to make ends meet; rent, school fees, food have all become bottlenecks that give each of you headaches. We are all in this together and history has shown us that even in difficult times we soldier on and survive.
Firstly, I want to pass my profound condolences to all residents who lost their family members, neighbours, and friends; may their departed souls continue to rest in peace. I will highlight issues both locally and nationally that affect us in this statement.
Local Issues
I want to first bring to your attention the issues bewildering our Municipality. Clamping has become a scourge in our town, it seems the moment you stop your car in town someone is already coming with a spike to rinse money off you, this must stop, and it will stop, municipal Police must always work in harmony with residents, the corruption and cruelty exacerbated by our municipal Police is alarming; to that end, I will be writing to the Town Clerk on this issue.
While we appreciate the humps that have sprouted across our suburbs to ease the speed of drivers, I am very much concerned about the size and height of some of them; it seems there is no parity and most of them don’t meet national and international standards; humps are meant to slow down vehicles not to damage them. I am also concerned that Council does not follow up by putting tar on their humps to ensure longevity, instead, the humps wash away or grain away as they are used. An example is the humps that were put along Ruzawi Road in Nyameni after multiple accidents, they have all but disappeared. The council must correct this and act professionally
Another area of concern is the type of buildings sprouting up in our CBD. If we truly aspire to be a city, then Council must never approve any new buildings that are less than 3 storeys. Many of the new buildings are just single storey and divided into small tuckshops. This is not the development or growth we aspire as a town. As the town prepares a new budget for 2022, business owners must be given relief as they have suffered due to Covid 19. License and inspection fees must be brought down not increased.
Whilst resurfacing of CBD roads was a good idea, the Council should have put more focus on tarring residential roads which have now turned into alley ways and would turn into rivers when the rainy season commences.
Safety and security
I want us as a community to commend the work of our security sector in keeping us safe. Marondera had become a hive for thieves and armed robbers. Our local Police must be applauded for their sterling work in capturing armed robbers who had ravaged our town. Most people had lost fridges, TVs, and many valuable goods during the Covid 19 period. The work of intelligence and CID departments should not be understated but resourced to keep up the good work.
Covid 19
We now seem to be at the back end of this terrible pandemic. I want to thank all residents for heeding the call to get vaccinated and adhering to strict Covid 19 prevention protocols. I want to especially that our residents for starting up an initiative encouraging people to get vaccinated. The campaign started by businessman Mr Emmanuel Danha has spread across Mash East with various companies joining and ensuring our people are educated enough about vaccination.
Electricity and Energy
Electricity has become scarce in Marondera. The load shading has become unbearable for most homes and businesses. Government must do more to ensure that we get a constant supply of electricity. Even fuel is now very expensive for most motorists, we now have the most expensive fuel in Southern Africa yet ours is actually heavily diluted with ethanol. This unfair increase in fuel will have a devastating effect on businesses and will exponentially increase the price of other goods and services across all sectors.
Cost of Living
The cost of living in Marondera has reached astronomical levels. Mazoe now costs over ZW$450 against an aggregated fictitious exchange rate of 85 against the USD. The government monetary policy has increased the cost of basic food items essential for our day to day living. Many in our town are now surviving on one meal a day.
Whilst we are adorned by all these challenges, I want to assure you that although you no longer have a voice in Parliament to challenge these regressive government policies, I will continue to shout and be your voice of reason. It is my hope that by-elections are done soonest to ensure that you have a champion who will stand for you in Parliament.
I urge all residents to continue united and looking out for each other in times of need.
May God bless your families and unlock your potential so that we can all be successful and realize our dreams.
God bless you all
God bless Marondera
Hon Caston Matewu
The People’s MP
State of Marondera Central Constituency
