Financial Gazette
By Ray Ndlovu
12 October 2011
BULAWAYO – As signs indicate Zimbabwe could be headed for fresh polls in March or the third quarter of 2012, the country’s second largest city has emerged as an important centre of an intense power struggle among the country’s four main political parties as they jostle for the political hearts and minds of the residents of Matabeleland.
There is a school of thought that the next polls could be decided in Matabeleland, particularly Bulawayo, the region’s commercial capital, presently reeling from perceived de-industrialisation and deliberate marginalisation.
ZANU-PF, which surrendered the entire Bulawayo constituency and large parts of Matabeleland in 2000 to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formation led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, is seen using the party’s annual December conference slatted for the city as its launch pad for the fresh polls.
The MDC-T, which has maintained an octopus-like grip on the city, has recently been all over Bulawayo and its hinterland to ensure it secures a clean sweep in the next polls.
MDC officials say they are geared to grab all the contested seats in Bulawayo and the entire Matabeleland region this time around. The party recently launched its provincial election campaign for next’s year’s presidential polls.
Not to be outdone has been Tsvangirai’s nemesis, Welshman Ncube, leader of the MDC who has initiated weekly rallies in Bulawayo and the rest of the Matabeleland region.
The revived ZAPU is also vigorously marketing itself: It has stated its intention of fielding candidates in all the constituencies in the region.
ZAPU, like the MDC-T, held its congress in Bulawayo last year in August as the party sought to establish a political base.
Political players in the region and analysts say there were strong signals that Bulawayo has become a vital match-maker and a source of votes ahead of the elections.
Methuseli Moyo, the ZAPU spokesperson, said there was definitely a scramble for Matabeleland, claiming the region has become strategic.
He said every political party now recognised that Bulaw-ayo could either make or break their ambitions.
“No political party can afford any longer to ignore Bulawayo and that is why we have also seen ZANU-PF speedily moving into the region,” said Moyo.
With a host of problems already besetting Matabel-eland that include; a crippling drought in Matabeleland South, the massive de-industrialisation of Bulawayo and the ongoing emotive debate on the 1980’s Gukurahundi atrocities, political observers see Bulawayo as “providing fodder” for intense electioneering.
Nearly 87 companies have shut down in Bulawayo since 2010 and an estimated 20 000 workers were affected by the closures.
Votes in the second city are likely to be swayed by the competing parties’ ability to address the scale of Bulawayo’s economic stagnation.
At its December conference, ZANU-PF is seen leaning on its indigenisation programme to garner votes in Bulawayo.
Isaac Dakamela, the ZANU-PF provincial chairperson, said the party was ready to reclaim the city in the next polls, adding that the conference in Bulawayo would be an eye-opener for the residents of the city.
“We look forward to the December conference as it will be an eye opener to people and will make the party more visible ahead of elections. The company closures in the city are a result of sanctions, but ZANU-PF through the indigenisation (programme) will revive industries,” said Dakamela.
Absalom Sikhosana, the ZANU-PF national secretary for youth affairs, a resident of the city, added his voice on the issue.
“As youths, our mission is to peacefully mobilise and vote for ZANU-PF during next year’s elections. Once ZANU-PF is out of power there is no indigenisation to talk about,” he said.
Bulawayo East MDC-T legislator, Tabitha Khumalo, said the premier’s party was not resting on its laurels and was working hard to consolidate its stranglehold of the city and its hinterland.
“Voters from Bulawayo are loyal and they are known to stand firmly on a political decision that is why politicians are scrambling into the region. It’s unfortunate that ZANU-PF is trying to use the empowerment issue to hoodwink voters from Bulawayo. It is because of ZANU-PF’s failure to address the long-standing concerns that Bulawayo has had for the past 31 years that has resulted in the stagnation of the city,” said the outspoken MDC-T legislator.
Listed as part of the region’s concerns are the 1980’s Gukurahundi killings, which the opposition parties are coalescing around to stoke tensions against ZANU-PF in the upcoming elections and cause an upset at the polls.
As noted by a recent WikiLeaks 2009 diplomatic cable by United States envoy, Charles Ray, the Matabeleland region has “distrust and hatred” for President Mugabe’s ZANU-PF as a result of Gukurahundi.
Ambassador Ray said: “We were surprised that 31 years after Gukurahundi, many of our interlocutors continue to refer to it with seemingly fresh anger and bitterness at wounds that were never healed.
“Apart from the pain of the loss of loved ones, they remember that security officials refused to allow many families to hold memorial ceremonies for their relatives who were killed in Gukur-ahundi.”
The MDC-T has now promised to compensate all the victims of political violence and also deal with the Gukurahundi issue as it seeks to gain political mileage out of it.
In the 2008 elections, the MDC-T won all of the city’s 12 House of Assembly seats, six of the seven Senate seats and 26 of the 29 councillors in the Bulawayo City Council.
The Ncube-led MDC has one senator; David Coltart and three councillors.
While ZANU-PF’s presence in Bulawayo has not been magnified, the party is said to be strategising behind closed doors at Davies Hall, the provincial headquarters of the party in the city.
The take-over of disused city buildings and other properties owned by whites and residents of Asian origin are seen as part of ZANU-PF’s strategy to lure the youths to its fold. Nhlanhla Dube, the spokesperson for the MDC, said the party’s visibility on the ground was well-documented in Matabeleland, saying the green colours of the party were everywhere in the region.
“We are not moved by perceptions that our rallies are a flop. How do you explain the defections from MDC-T to our party in recent months? To us, it is a sign of popularity of the MDC that we are doing the right things,” said Dube.
But despite what is perceived by observers as a vigorous attempt by the MDC to push into Bulawayo and the Matabeleland region through its weekly rallies, Khumalo of the MDC-T said: “Ncube is not a threat and we are not worried by all his attempts to win voters.”
ZAPU has also laid into the MDC strategy to canvass for votes in the city and the region, describing his party’s weekly rallies as “panic signs”.