Living the Mthuli Dream in Cowdray Park

MISS Nobuhle Nyathi has lived in Bulawayo's Cowdray Park for the entirety of her life and has always longed for meaningful development as some parts of the suburb resembled rural areas.

Today, Miss Nyathi and many other youths of the suburb are now living what they have coined the "Mthuli Dream".

The Mthuli Dream was conceived after Professor Mthuli Ncube, who is the Finance and Economic Development Minister, made known his intention to run for the Cowdray Park seat in general elections slated for August.

Professor Ncube who has vast experience in transforming communities and economies across Africa has implemented an array of projects that residents of the suburb are already benefiting from.

The projects include the electrification of parts of the suburb, road rehabilitation, borehole drilling, provision of Wi-Fi services, driving lessons and Red Cross training.

Cowdray Park is regarded as the biggest constituency in Bulawayo, with over 24 000 registered voters.

The suburb has over 75 000 residents, and is the second-largest suburb in the country after Budiriro in Harare.

Despite its rapid growth, Cowdray Park lags behind in terms of development.

A section of the suburb known as Hlalani Kuhle/Garikai has a poor road network and some houses are yet to be connected to the sewer system, as well as electrified.

To date, 26 boreholes — 15 of them already operational — have been drilled, road habilitation is in progress and Wi-Fi has been installed at strategic parts of the suburbs which include a police station, and three schools.

"I was born here. I have lived here all my life. And I have lived a life similar to a rural set up. Now with professor Ncube throwing in his hat to contest for this seat, life has become interesting and exciting in this constituency.

"He has come up with many projects that we are already benefiting from.

"Personally I am a beneficiary of the Red Cross programme, which is beneficial to those of us who underwent the course.

"As it is there is a clinic that is being set up and we hope to find employment there," said Miss Nyathi.

She said she is part of a voluntary team that is leading in training and recruiting youths for the programme.

"The needs of the youths are being answered. New registrations are taking place tomorrow at the Roman Catholic Church at 8am. So far there are at least 3 000 youths that have been trained within the constituency from the time of inception. As I noted, the pioneer classes are already working with various health institutions in the city. The plan to sweep youths from the streets of Cowdray Park in the most productive manner is proving fruitful," said Miss Nyathi.

Another resident, Mrs Susan Moyo-Hove said she is excited with the electricity project.





"Once we have electricity, as already the minister has provided us with a generator, cables and poles I can kiss my cooking over the fire goodbye. The cumbersome experience of searching for firewood is something that I don't want any of the new generations to experience. A lot of other female residents and I are very much grateful to the minister and want to see more from him, as he develops Cowdray Park," she said.

Said another resident, Mr Washington Musonza: "I am elated by the infrastructural development. Our roads are being rehabilitated, we have boreholes that have been sunk and most of them are already functional. Our road network is very poor but already it is being attended to, as the minister has sent a team to rehabilitate our road system. Roads such that lead to Caravan Park, Mpompini and Esigodweni will soon be tarred and this will bring an end to transport operators charging us ridiculous amounts of money."

Mr Misheck Mawisire said he is happy with the transformation that Professor Mthuli was doing to the suburb.

"He promised to turn our suburb into a smart city and he already is doing so. The roads are being rehabilitated and are soon going to be tarred. We have Wi-Fi connectivity, which we as adults are happy about as most youths are now kept occupied on their smart devices and away from drugs and misdemeanours," said Mr Mawisire.

Another resident Mr Cletos Muchada, who is also a representative of the resident's association called upon Professor Ncube to act on the issue of sewer reticulation.

"In as much as we are happy with the development being done here, we need to have a sewer system.

We cannot say we are liberated and developed when we are still using blair toilets. This needs urgent attention," said Mr Muchada.

Zanu-PF Cowdray Park councillor Kidwell Mujuru said the projects implemented were progressing as anticipated.

"Rome was not built in a single night, but all is progressing according to plan. Twenty-six boreholes have been sunk to date and 15 are operational. These are meant to supplement the water challenges being faced not only by this constituency but the city. These boreholes will also assist women to practice market gardening to enable them to make ends meet and provide for their families. This will also improve residents' nutrition as they can plant various vegetables and fruits," said Mujuru.

He said the effort being shown by the Minister is evidence that he is a representative that is faithful to the people and committed to serving them.

"The President always says we are ‘leaving no one and no place behind' under the Second Republic. Let us all as a constituency vouch for our candidate for a better tomorrow," said Mujuru.