By Byron Mutingwende
Development runs through the nerves of Temba “Bhuru” Mliswa, the Member of the House of Assembly for Norton whose great works are positively impacting the generality of people in the constituency.
The legislator, who uses yellow as his campaign colour, upped his drive to retain the seat beginning this July although he has always been on the ground in spearheading development initiatives from the very first day he took over the reigns from former Norton Member of the House of Assembly, Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa.
“I was born with development traits in my genetic make-up. When I was in Hurungwe, the lives of the people there improved for the better. When ZANU (PF) felt threatened by my work and fired me from the party, the Hurungwe people cried for my return but politics carried the day. From that moment I realised party politics can be a stumbling block to development and ever since I have chosen to stand as an independent under whose ticket I won the elections to represent Norton in Parliament,” Hon Mliswa said.
In something never witnessed before in the history of Norton, on Thursday 14 July 2018, Hon Mliswa sponsored and held a soccer tournament for the touts (mahwindi) at Koshens Grounds. The heavily subscribed tournament afforded the electorate an opportunity to meet and mix with their legislator.
“I am more than excited and grateful to Temba “Bhuru” Mliswa for considering us the touts an important part of society. What we have come to experience every day is ridicule from the community and running battles with the police but Hon Mliswa has shown us love by organising something to entertain us. Speed Pirates emerged as the winners ahead of Mahwindi, “ said James Maunze, a tout who participated in the tournament.
Later that day, Hon Mliswa proved that he does not only preach about peace but actually practices it. He invited the aspiring legislator for Norton from the MDC Alliance to a rally he held at Lydiate Farm. He urged his supporters and politicians to be respectful to their opponents in order to deliver peaceful elections.
“At Lydiate Farm, Hon Mliswa is building six toilets to be used by families there. The ablution facilities will help nearly 260 families at the compound. These people are currently using bushes and dilapidated Blair toilets that can expose them to diseases like cholera and typhoid,” said Chipo Musukutwa from the legislator’s campaign team.
He has also built six other toilets at Skea Farm. The two farms lack adequate and proper ablution facilities. The families also rely on open wells for water and had resorted to open defecation due to the absence of toilets.
Hon Mliswa held a rally with over 200 villagers from Edmore Farm who expressed gratitude for the development initiatives the legislator is pursuing. The legislator installed a 2000-litre water tank at Bathurst and electrified the clinic. He then proceeded to hold a road-show in Katanga where he was mobbed by ecstatic fans.
He has also in the process of quantifying the materials required for the electrification of Phases C and D of Galloway suburb of Norton. Hon Mliswa promised to quantify the materials in terms of monetary value.
On Saturday, the Bhuru Brand continued with the distribution of T-shirts to a number of registered voters. There was another road-show in Ward 1 at Govans shopping Centre where he erected a police post.
“The erection of the police post at Govans Shopping Centre has the deliberate effect of increasing the security of residents within that ward. Apart from major developmental projects like roads construction, ther is also sinking of boreholes and the electrification of Chitenderano Secondary School in Ward 14. We are sure of Hon Mliswa’s resounding victory as well as a win for us who form the his core team as independent councillors,” said Dr Godfrey Mugaviri, the aspiring independent Councillor for Ward 2.