Jahunda Redevelopment Project Hopes Ride on Upcoming Elections

Jahunda residents in Gwanda have regained hope about the possibility of better shelter and health services due to the upcoming elections scheduled for August 23, 2023.

Stuck in limbo for decades, the Jahunda Redevelopment Project has left Gwanda's residents enduring cramped conditions, sharing toilets, and lacking proper shelter. As the elections approach, Jahunda residents see a glimmer of hope in new leadership to finally complete the project.

BY DOUGLAS NCUBE | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | AUG 19, 2023

GWANDA (The Citizen Bulletin) — Gwanda Municipality has long faced calls from stakeholders to prioritise the Jahunda Redevelopment Project. Initiated in the early 2000s, the project aimed to improve living conditions for Ward 4 residents, who currently live in substandard single-roomed houses and share communal toilets.

For Ndlovu, a Jahunda resident who requested to be identified only with her surname, the local authority's focus seems to revolve around bill collection, disregarding the cramped living spaces and shared toilets that residents endure.

“I don't have any hope left. These projects were supposed to be finished years ago, but it appears unlikely. We need the incoming Ward councillor to make the project a priority and complete the houses for us.”
Ndlovu

She adds: “Imagine living in one room with growing adolescents, sharing a distant community toilet in the dark.”

Ndlovu says there's a risk of getting mugged or kidnapped while walking to the public toilet at night. She details an incident involving one of her neighbours, who had a man follow her into the toilet during the night. Fortunately, she wasn’t harmed, possibly because she screamed and the man fled, Ndlovu recounts.

Despite facing difficult living conditions, residents of Jahunda have regained hope due to the upcoming elections scheduled for August 23, 2023. They are optimistic about the possibility of better shelter and health services and are advocating for the swift completion of the Jahunda Redevelopment Project to enhance their quality of life.

Despite numerous efforts, Jahunda's residents have seen no progress from the local authorities.

Mayor Councilor Njabulo Siziba, a former Ward 4 Councillor, explained to The Citizen Bulletin in March 2022 that bureaucracy hinders project advancement. He stressed that central government approval is needed for the project layout plans, currently awaiting authorisation in Harare.

Linda Dube, another Jahunda resident in a single-roomed house, explains:

“Our hopes are on aspiring councillors, especially the young candidates who we believe will drive the project's completion. We are not satisfied with past local government members for neglecting our right to proper housing and health services.”
Linda Dube

Dube acknowledges partial progress through engagements with civil society groups like Christian Alliance and Community Youth Development Trust (CYDT), which installed water taps in some houses.

“But it's not enough,” she says. “We need proper houses instead of a public toilet that caters to our needs.”

Jahunda, one of the town's oldest areas, wrestles with a sewage system that frequently bursts, putting residents at risk of health hazards due to overcrowding and waste.

Jahunda residents are still using a communal toilet due to unfulfilled promises to construct proper toilets. Image by Mthabisi Tshuma

Mayor Siziba noted that the Jahunda Redevelopment Project resumed in 2018 after vital materials vanished from the construction site.

“I don’t know how this happened but obviously, all eyes are on me because I am the incumbent mayor.”

He continues: “Land and stands were already identified and planned. The initial plan aimed to move two out of three residents from single-roomed houses. Expansion is challenging due to the town's farm surroundings. However, the Ministry of Lands secured additional land through Agribank.”

Despite being moved from Ward 4 to Ward 8 through the delimitation exercise conducted by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, Siziba remains committed to resolving the project issue in Ward 4.

Jahunda Ward 4 has two aspiring Ward councillors for the upcoming elections: Wellington Nare, a Citizens Coalition for Change candidate, and Mduduzi Ncube, a Zanu PF candidate.

Nare, former Secretary General of Gwanda Residents Association, aims to transform Jahunda from a communal area to a modern township if elected.

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“If I’m elected, I'll use our national laws which empower the councillor as a people's representative and raise my Ward 4 issues in the chamber as well as prioritise pertinent issues affecting residents such as housing and sanitation challenges,” he says.

He adds: “I'll also work on ensuring that residents get their transfer of ownership documents which are still in possession of the Municipality of Gwanda despite the 2017 ownership resolution.”

Attempts to contact Ncube and inquire about his plans for development in Ward 4 faced obstacles. Nonetheless, his party has been pledging plots of land and housing to its followers. Recently, the party distributed ownership documents to inhabitants of Epworth in Harare, a densely populated area, as an incentive to secure votes for the ruling party in the imminent elections.

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