Youths Petition Parliament over administration of Hwange town.

By Rutendo Mapfumo

Hwange youths have petitioned Parliament over the administration of Hwange town, which they have accused of maladministration resulting in a snail pace of development in the district despite it being richly endowed in natural resources.

For decades, Hwange town has been torn under different forces of administrative authority which include Hwange Colliery, National Railways of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Power Company as well as Hwange Local Board and Hwange Rural district council.

The District Programmes Manager of Hwange Youth Empowerment Initiative, Tinashe Matika said he population in the concession area is not benefitting from service deliverables of Hwange Local Board yet they voted the councilors into power.

“The local governance set-up for Hwange Central Constituency does not incorporate the residents of the following wards, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. These wards have an estimated number of 23 274 people residing within the concession but are not beneficiaries of the service deliverables of Hwange Local Board, the Constitution mandated Local Authority,” he said.

The dominance of the local corporates over the service delivery – Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL), the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), and Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) have sustained a local governance system that violates the social contract by excluding the general populace within the Hwange Concession from enjoying the fruits and merits of public service delivery, environmental management and public finance management despite contributing immensely to public funds by way taxes.

“The change in local governance administration of Hwange Central Constituency, will expedite the incorporation of the Hwange Colliery Concession into the jurisdiction of the Hwange Local Board, ultimately unifying the service delivery and the development of the Town into a singular Local Authority,” he said.

Matika added that the incorporation will solve a number of issues which include that of common ablution facilities which have been a thorn in the flesh for residents as it is constantly overloaded causing a serious health hazard, the waste management, irregular water management, coal fires and the human-wildlife conflict in Hwange.

The set-up of Hwange is derived from colonial system where a number of families would use one ablution.
Allan Sibanda Twalumba, a Hwange youth echoed similar sentiments that the maladministration Hwange had contributed immensely to the slow pace of development in Hwange town.

“Councilors in the concession have no power to stand for the people in their concession area. They have no say and the devolution funds from local board is not even catering for the residents in the concession area,” said Twalumba.

Hwange town is home to the biggest coal mining operations in the country. The town is the chief supplier of the nation’s power needs through the Hwange Thermal Power Station. Hwange urban largely stems from poor waste reticulation and ineffective service delivery systems that can no longer meet the demands of the rapidly growing population that has continued to expand since the turn of the century resulting in the overpopulation of Hwange urban.