Aspiring MP promises to promote stokvels

ASPIRING National Assembly representative for Mpopoma/Pelandaba constituency in Bulawayo under the Alliance for People's Agenda (APA) led by Dr Nkosana Moyo says he will revolutionalise the communities by extracting value from stokvels and burial societies as a form of economic development.

Mr Nhlanhla Moyo who was a PhD student in Anthropology at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa but dropped out to pursue his political ambitions said there is a lot of potential locked up in the townships.

"There's a need to radicalise the township economy using several platforms, from stokvels, burial societies and existing small-scale businesses (ie clothing, fruit and vegetable vendors)," he said.

Born and bred in Bulawayo and having spent a number of years away from home, Mr Moyo said it is time to make amends.

Mr Moyo (43) says he identifies with youth and knows how most feel after seeing their dreams go out in flames due to the economic situation.

"I know what it's like to be structurally excluded from economic participation, leaving home in pursuit of dreams elsewhere in the diaspora.

"I want the people to re-imagine themselves in the community. My community has a lot of potential particularly the youth. I feel that it's my duty to help them unlock it. The biggest mistake most political leaders do is to prescribe ideas for the people and never engage them on what they want. There are a lot of learned and skilled youths in the community but they aren't being afforded the opportunity to realise their fullest potential," he said.

Mr Moyo said it was an open secret that one of the reasons for economic success in Jewish and Muslim communities is that money circulates at least six to eight times within their communities before it exits.

He proposed a similar business model that will see residents and retailers supporting local businesses before looking elsewhere thus supporting initiatives like stokvels and burial societies.

On the education front, he said it was not the burden of parents to feed and provide pupils with stationery at schools.

"The burden of feeding school children should not lie with the parents who are already struggling with fees in most cases.

There should be a total waiver on provisions such as food and stationery (bond paper in particular) which has been a bone of contention in many schools," he stressed.

Mr Moyo said he will work with the local council to revitalise the community's recreational centres and parks and make sure there is efficient service delivery.