Kasukuwere insincere about providing housing

The Welshman Ncube led MDC has scoffed at statements by Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere that he will build an exclusive Zanu PF youth township in Bulawayo.

Last week, Kasukuwere told Zanu PF youth that he would make sure that Bulawayo City council will avail 300ha of land to build more than 20 000 units.

Below is a statement by MDC:

The recent announcement by Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere that his ministry will soon roll out 900 hectares of land for the construction of 20 000 housing units for youths in Bulawayo at a time when the majority of youths are unemployed and the Bulawayo City Council has a more than 100 000 people on its housing waiting list is not only ridiculous but cheap politicking at the expense of thousands of desperate home seekers in the city.

If Kasukuwere was genuine about the welfare of the youths of Bulawayo he would be addressing the housing backlog and corruption at the BCC first before pledging stands.

The Minister should be expending his energies in ensuring the more than 100 000 desperate home seekers who have been on the waiting list for several years are provided with reasonably priced stands. The very fact that the minister is choosing to ignore this huge housing backlog indicates his insincerity in providing access to housing.

The Minister's promises to the youths comes after his party failed to deliver a single job after promising 2,2 million jobs to restore economic stability for Zimbabweans in their 2013 election campaign. It is unfortunate that once again youths are being hoodwinked by ZANU PF through promises of stands whose chances of being developed and maintained are unlikely, given the high unemployment rate. The mere fact that the majority of youths are forced to spend most their time blocking pavements of bottle stores or selling airtime juice cards when they are graduates due to lack of employment is itself ample proof that Kasukuwere is lying through his teeth when he claims to the youths ZANU PF is a party of action.

As MDC we advise the Minister to stop deceiving the youths and push for government to address their real problem which is unemployment. After government creates employment it can then start negotiating with council to allocate stands to the youths, after the housing backlog for desparate home seekers has been dealt with.

Secondly, it is clear that these stands will not be allocated to Bulawayo youths but ZANU PF youths only, as has been the party's tradition of ‘Stands for pals'. As MDC we are watching closely and will not sit back while our local authorities countrywide are being abused by greedy politicians and their unholy agendas.

Mbuso Siso

MDC Deputy National Spokesperson