MDC-T aspiring parliamentary candidate for St Mary’s Constituency in Chitungwiza, Unganayi Dickson Tarusenga says he will not promise the electorate heaven on earth but only has one pledge to make — to listen to people’s needs and strive to address them. REPORT BY CHRISTOPHER MAHOVE
“I have learnt my lessons from the previous MPs, so I am going to start on a higher level in as far as working with the people of St Mary’s is concerned. While others were making promises that they could not fulfill, my promises are need and talent-based,” said Tarusenga.
He added: “What it means is that it is the people who should approach their MP with their needs or projects and I will support them. That way, I would have been different from those who promised to build bridges where there are no rivers.”
Tarusenga said the MDC-T’s policy, which was development-oriented, made his life much easier as his mission was to help the electorate develop their constituency. “If I become the MP, chances of which are very high because the MDC-T supporters are in the majority in St Mary’s, and our party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai becomes the president, my work will be very easy as I will be implementing the party’s policies,” he said.
The MDC-T policy — Jobs, Upliftment, Investment Capital and the Environment (JUICE) — is a framework to create jobs and build a strong and growing economy that is financially and environmentally sustainable, he said.
Presently, eight out of every 10 people in Zimbabwe are unemployed.
But who is this man? Where is he coming from? What are his aspirations?
The current MDC-T district chairperson for St Mary’s, Tarusenga has been a member of the party since its formation in 1999. He has been the district secretary for St Mary’s from 2000 to 2011.
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A veteran trade unionist with more than 30 years of experience, Tarusenga is the ZCTU second deputy secretary general and the Federation of Food and Allied Workers Union general secretary.
He said he decided to stand as a parliamentary candidate after noticing the lack of representation of the workers’ movement in the house of assembly.
The 52-year-old trade unionist said he plans to advance workers’ interests and provide the missing link between labour and the legislature.
“Where I come from [ZCTU], is where the MDC was formed and I have held several influential positions in the party since its formation,” said Tarusenga. “So it was very easy for me to solicit the support of the electorate. I should say that they respect me as a long-serving cadre of the party and as a trade union leader.”
So determined is Tarusenga that he has already written to church leaders, business community special interest group leaders, old people’s organisations, civic groups and the youths in the constituency proposing to set up a community development committee.
The committee, he said, would spearhead the identification of challenges, opportunities and projects in the constituency and seek their prescriptive solutions.
Tarusenga has survived political violence
Unganayi Dickson Tarusenga said he is a victim of the Zanu PF election violence, having been abducted and beaten by uniformed forces on June 27 2008. He was left for dead after being dumped at Mukuvisi River.
The incident led to his wife suffering a heart attack and dying the following day, he claimed.
His house in Manyame Park has been a target of Zanu PF attacks in 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2008. During the attacks his family was harassed and subjected to various forms of abuse.
This however, Tarusenga said — especially the death of his wife — had given him more reason to want to remove Zanu PF from power.
“What I know is that for one to succeed in politics, they should go through these challenges in life. As for me, politics has now become part of me, I eat politics, sleep politics and dream politics,” he said.
