Whoever poisoned the late Bulawayo Town Clerk Middleton Nyoni, poisoned the whole of Bulawayo

I cannot prove that the former Town Cleck Middleton Nyoni was poisoned. I rely mostly on news in the social media. His death was suspicious though: I could not comprehend how he would have succumbed to illness so quickly. When we constantly hear horror stories about sewage water consumption in our city of Queens and Kings, we cringe and cannot help but look back at the time when we had proper service delivery in this city: Alderman Middleton Nyoni was exceptional and a remarkable man.

Yet in Luveve Township alone, several residents have lost their lives due to unsafe sewage contaminated water reaching our home tapes for domestic use. The Khami Dam is domestic water source at the same time, a domestic effluent discharge source. Unfortunately, we have the most unreliable, cruel ignorant and unqualified BCC mayor and councillors messing up with the lives of millions of residents in Bulawayo the city of Queens and Kings.

It is worth repeating what our icon and hero Dr. Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo talked and instructed us passionately about. He warned citizens time and again about the evils of tribalism. "Do not vote on tribal lines but see if the person in question minimum has required qualifications of leadership qualities and expertise to execute responsibilities at any level of societal services." We are deep in tribalistic affiliations and tribalistic thinking today even after the second Millennium. The Lord Mayor Solomon Mguni evidently does not have the capacity to run this town. He has survived the chop from Dr. Thokozani Khuphe because he has a proper surname in Bulawayo Town: he is a Ndebele with Nguni surname. And again he went to MDC-T group and surrendered himself against MDC-Alliance ever to keep his post.

We must begin by acknowledging the fact that The Lord Mayor Mguni is a corrupt servant. He has amassed the best urban lands allocations to himself and his inner circles openly and shamefully. Surprisingly, we do not hear much from the residence association about his corruption tendencies, his corruption so obvious and documented. Solomon Mguni is paying less than one dollar a month of hectors of best lands in Bulawayo prime areas. Why are the resident's organisation not speaking and condemning this evil, why are they silent about this glaring corruption? Are we saying therefore: it is okay if corruption is done by some Ndebele Mayor in Matabeleland and we prosecute Karambani for charges lesser than Mguni's self-serving and open corruption practices done every day in this city?

I would have expected Mthwakazi political organisations that sued Karambani for theft of an electric code from his contractor to further sue the entire BCC councillors for negligence in delivering sewage infested domestic services that cost Luveve residents several lives. The cost of lives of residence is nowhere measurable with a mere and petty theft of a five-meter electric cable that Tinashe Karambani stole. This selective execution of justice based on tribal affiliation is what irked our icon Dr. Joshua Nkomo. He prophesied this social illness of tribalism and warned about the grave consequences of it in the coming generations of this great country. I am sorry for this rude comment in advance: we need to look at the fire-red eyes of the Lord Mayor; Alderman Solomon Mguni, a sign that he is consuming the sewage infested domestic water from the Khami Dam too; but I wonder if he recognizes this health aspect on his condition caused by dirty waters from Khami Dam.

The focus of these new crop of city elders is more on looting than to give adequate services to the residents. You need to look at the cars and several other packages that surely do not correspond with their job descriptions. Are they saying: lets eat first, then we can see what is left, to fix the needs of the Bulawayo residents? It is indeed shameful how power abuse is used to loot merger resources at the expense of the residents who LOOK UP at them to get bare services that give decency to life and personal respect to individual residents.

 For people to die of water bone dieses in the second millennium is not normal by any good global standards. Mayor Mguni is getting away with deaths of city residents without being held accountable to it. But a simple 5-meter electric code can cost the entire job of a deputy Mayor because "you are not from this region." Mubvakure! Tribalism. (I love my Zapu party for their non-tribalism: Zapu has never stooped low to embrace tribalism; thanks to our icon Comrade Joshua Nkomo)

Now let us go to the City of Kings and Queens, esidhikidhikini from Lobengula street right to the Main Street slowly and carefully going to the City Hall. The back streets and allies of the main streets are the potential toilets used day and night to relieve small and big businesses. By that I mean sh*t and urine, depending on what came first. A public toilet at Lobengula street is not usable anymore: the nauseating rotten stench of decades. Township Makokoba: curiously were I was born, is a sorry site. To keep myself sane, I will not even try to describe what I saw the last time I was in Bulawayo and I curiously visited St. Columbus Mission too where my parents worked as teachers in the 50s. The once upon a time the Bulawayo Park Centenary is now a shadow of its own. The beautiful green loans we knew and appreciated, valued, cherished when we were growing up are gone.

Former Prime Minister: Ian Douglas Smith said these Africans have not learnt management skills to be given full majority rule. Looking back, it is indeed the irony of history. I am one of the many who were in Zambia during the liberation struggle. We listened to stories such as: "it is better to misgovern ourselves than to be misgoverned" I wonder still if I can make such a sweeping statement today, seeing the rot of black governments in all aspects of our lives in Zimbabwe.
 
We have African leaders who cannot make a difference between national treasury and a private bank account. Corruption is done broad day light without shame. In one of Chinua Achebe's books he asks a question: is an African this corrupt? Africans have this sense of entitlement the moment they get into power. The corruption taking place in BCC is nowhere near to what is taking place at government level. Mnangagwa and his family are looting with impunity.

There was a private jet months ago that came to Zimbabwe incognito obviously contracted by Mnangagwa and his family to secretly swindle gold and other precious metals, all sent to Dubai for upkeep: meant to benefit Mnangagwa family alone. Rushwaya is only a symptom of what is happening inside the Zanu PF party and government. ZACC, on the other hand is empowered to investigate and arrest political opponents, then are charged of corruption to give the world a false impression that Mnangagwa government is serious about eradicating corruption in his government. Real corrupt to the core syndicates are left scot free to loot further with impunity just as the family is doing.

Let me come back to the title of my article. It is about Middleton Nyoni, upon his death, left a record of good service to the residents of this great City of Kings and Queens. The Ndebele adage: uDwayi ufa lensiba zakhe could be an underestimate when we talk about Mr Nyoni.

Once upon a time this city was run by great names such as the Alderman Nicholas Mabhodhoko and many of those who followed, kept the city of Bulawayo clean. Bulawayo was well known for its cleanliness outsmarting all other cities in the country in cleanliness alone. We can never say this today if the electricity poles right in the city centre of Bulawayo are hanging halfway to fall one day. That street children and residents can be electrocuted by decaying infrastructure in the city; does not concern the Lord Mayor Mguni, apparently, he does not realize the dangers of his glaring mismanagement. 

For this great country to move forward we must eradicate tribalism: me included. Tribalism is a cancer eating this country, paralysing it inwardly instead of embarking on meaningful and social, political, and economic developments. We are consumed about our medieval thinking that to be Shona is better and superior or to be of Ndebele tribe is being of noble blood. When I ask the nation to reflect, do some introspection regarding tribalism, I am included in this. Simply, I am saying I am not better when it comes to tribalism; I need to improve too. Ndinorasarasa if I get frustrated by people of Mashonaland who uncompromisingly speak Shona as if to say Zimbabwe belongs to Shona people or Zimbabwe: Mashonaland and everyone else must understand it the language and speak it.

We do not want to split this nation into two. These are not the aspirations of our fathers and mothers who are the torch bearers of the first liberation. It then literally means we must learn to live together and learn to appreciate our diversity makeup and concoctions. We have mixed marriages of a century and half, done by default or design make us who we are. But curiously we do not realize and appreciate the historicity of this nation. I cannot claim to be a fully clean San tribe if my mother is a Moyo, Dhewa, Bvumavaranda, Zimbaibwe. Mixed marriages of two centuries cannot be corrected by a rhetoric of Mthwakazi young men and women who have not read and appreciated the historicity of Zimbabwe and what it is made up of. Painfully, this nation is made up of mixed ethnic groups; will leave this painful topic for another day.

I would advise anyone to read an article written by Bishop in Bulawayo24 complaining about Harare's broken-down council services and how it has been run down by people who do not have the slightest knowledge about service delivery: but looting the public treasury.