Chinotimba, who narrowly lost the constituency to Naison Nemadziva in 2008 amid charges of spearheading a violent campaign, recently set up a maize milling plant and is giving maize meal on credit to civil servants and ordinary villagers. However, the MDC-T officials accuse him of hijacking the project from the local MP.
Councillor for ward 24, Bodier Nendanga, also accused Chinotimba of hijacking the construction of a bridge along the Nyarushanga River.
“He only took advantage of the fact that the contractors had ran out of cement and he immediately took over,” Nendanga said. “The MP has no power to stop him because he even bought some of the equipment that went missing.”
Nendanga also accused Chinotimba of taking over a government event where the local district administrator was distributing maize to villagers in the area. “He came to Mutiusinazita claiming to be the one who brought the maize. We failed to stop him because most of the beneficiaries were Zanu PF activists,” he said.
But Chinotimba denied the allegations producing receipts of three tons of maize, which he said proved he bought the commodity from the Grain Marketing Board Buhera Depot.
“They are lying,” said a fuming Chinotimba. “I have the receipts. If the District Administrator distributed maize it was his own programme. I distributed my own maize and everyone accessed it, including that councillor who is also benefiting from my credit project.”
Chinotimba also produced a contract he purportedly signed with 10 local builders to construct the bridge and another one he claimed he entered with a Harare-based contractor, for hiring earth moving equipment, including four graders to gravel the road for a month.
“My main aim is to upgrade the constituency, which has been regarded by many as backward. To tell you the truth, I have been using money from my pocket to implement these projects and these guys (MDC-T) just come and say they are their projects,” he said.
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Asked where he was getting the money to fund his project, Chinotimba was reluctant to tell where he was getting the money saying he was just like a father who brought food for his children. “Iwe kana baba vakabuda kundokorokoza vodzoka vakabata chingwa ungavabvunza kuti machiwanepi here kana kuti unongotambira. I get the money mandinofamba,” said an emotional Chinotimba.
While his efforts are welcome, it was reported that when he lost in 2008 he demanded some of his “donations” to the people, an allegation he denied.
Chinotimba known for losing elections
Chinotimba is an interesting character. He tried many times to get elected into political office, abandoning one constituency after the other, but losing all the time. His campaigns have however been dogged by reports of violence.
Chinotimba contested in Harare’s Glen Norah and Budiriro constituencies but lost and then tried his luck in Highfield where he dished out cheap shoes without any success. In the 2008 harmonised elections, Chinotimba decided to return to his roots and contested in Buhera South constituency where he lost to Nemadziva.
But it appears that this time around, Chinotimba, who reinvented himself as a pious man, has decided to stick to Buhera South where he has continued to be visible.
