Jonathan Moyo explains Bulawayo rot

Exiled former minister Jonathan Moyo says Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second city, has lost its former glory as the country’s best run city because it has aligned its vote with Harare since 2000 to the detriment of its own developmental interests and those of the region.

Writing on his twitter handle, Moyo said, it is now time Bulawayo went back to its roots.

“All addresses are local. Literally everyone has a local address. No one has a national address. That’s why politics is local. It’s because everyone lives at or belongs to some local place. Hence, in progressive politics, praxis is about thinking nationally, and acting locally,” Moyo said.

“Unlike MatNorth and MatSouth provinces that quickly learnt their electoral lessons and corrected themselves to vote locally after voting with Harare in 2000, Bulawayo has over the last 23 years continued to align its votes with Harare to the detriment of its own developmental interests and those of the region.

“While Bulawayo’s 23-year alignment of its votes with Harare has undoubtedly benefited a few individuals in Harare and even fewer individuals in Bulawayo, some who are well-known high-profile figures, it has not benefited any ward or any constituency in the metropolitan province; in other words, the Bulawayo-Harare vote-alignment since 2000 has not benefited Bulawayo at all.

“The fact of the matter is that, after having been the best run city in the country from 1980 to 2000, Bulawayo has been run down over the last 23 years. There’s no need for rocket science to understand the source of the rot.

“Yet Bulawayo was run very well by PF Zapu even in the gukurahundi years, and it continued to be run well after the 1987 Unity Accord between PF-Zapu and Zanu-PF.

“But things fell apart in 2000 when the rot set in, took hold of the city and dragged it down to the doldrums of squalor where it is today. Surely, by any normal reckoning, 23 years is long and enough. It’s time for rethinking Bulawayo.”

Full tweet:

RETHINKING BULAWAYO BACK TO ITS ROOTS

All addresses are local. Literally everyone has a local address. No one has a national address. 

That’s why politics is local. It’s because everyone lives at or belongs to some local place. Hence, in progressive politics, praxis is about thinking nationally, and acting locally.

Unlike MatNorth and MatSouth provinces that quickly learnt their electoral lessons and corrected themselves to vote locally after voting with Harare in 2000, Bulawayo has over the last 23 years continued to align its votes with Harare to the detriment of its own developmental interests and those of the region.

While Bulawayo’s 23-year alignment of its votes with Harare has undoubtedly benefited a few individuals in Harare and even fewer individuals in Bulawayo, some who are well-known high-profile figures, it has not benefited any ward or any constituency in the metropolitan province; in other words, the Bulawayo-Harare vote-alignment since 2000 has not benefited Bulawayo at all.

Continued next page

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