Chiwenga dangles carrot to Mbare

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VICE-President Constantino Chiwenga yesterday promised residents of Harare’s oldest suburb modern apartments with swimming pools as Zanu PF stepped up its campaign to wrestle control of the capital from the opposition.

VICE-President Constantino Chiwenga yesterday promised residents of Harare’s oldest suburb modern apartments with swimming pools as Zanu PF stepped up its campaign to wrestle control of the capital from the opposition.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

Chiwenga told a campaign rally in Mbare that the dilapidated hostels in the poor neighbourhood would be transformed after the elections.

Zanu PF supporters, who first fought for T-shirts before Chiwenga arrived, cheered as the VP also promised that the entire infrastructure in Mbare would be modernised.

He said those that had relocated to affluent suburbs like Borrowdale would flock back to Mbare.

“We have a comprehensive master plan for the home industries and the Mbare hostels to the extent that wherever we reconstruct a block of flats, there will be swimming pools for children and kindergartens,” Chiwenga said.

“Mbare will be the first place that we are going to develop in Harare, and those that had relocated to Borrowdale and Mount Pleasant will come back to Mbare.”

Chiwenga blamed the MDC-T-run council for the poor state of Mbare. He said residents were staying in dilapidated buildings with broken windows, potholed roads, and dirty surroundings with uncollected litter because of the incompetence of the council.

“The [Zanu PF] Mbare National Assembly candidate Tendai Savanhu asked if I was aware of the conditions at the hostels and I told him that I have visited the place in disguise,” he claimed.

“After noticing the poor living conditions, we then came up with the master plan for Mbare and Harare.

“There are serious health issues like cholera and typhoid because of the MDC-T-led council.

“The water pipes and sewer reticulation systems are archaic and they failed to replace them.”

The VP said he would make sure that all houses that Mbare residents rented for more than 30 years would be given to tenants.

Zanu PF provincial commissar Douglas Mahiya chided party supporters who fought for T-shirts saying they were rogues that did not belong to the party.