Eng Daniel Mackenzie brings expertise to develop constituency
A CIVIL engineer by profession, Member of Parliament for Zhombe constituency in the Midlands, Eng Daniel Mackenzie Ncube is one unique legislator who has brought his expertise back to his constituency, turning the otherwise dry, arid and drought prone Zhombe into an oasis of hope.
Using his civil engineering skills and at times experimenting, the people of Zhombe now have access to water, and the area is an ever green lung due to a number of thriving small irrigation schemes, courtesy of Eng Ncube.
Using personal funds and at times funds from Government under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), Eng Ncube has brought piped water to clinics, schools and business centres. Where there is no source of water nearby, he has made sure that there is at least a borehole.
His constant touch with the people coupled with his proactive approach to their needs has made him a darling for the people of Zhombe and since 2002, he has been elected to represent the people of Zhombe in Parliament on the ruling Zanu-PF party ticket.
“He is one of the most active MPs I have ever seen and this is why we have been electing him in every election save for the 2005 election where he was beaten by the opposition. We lost a lot during that term not only turn the tables of power, but also to creatively provoke a rich world conversation that can illuminate new global futures. In the present, Tawana Kupe notes “there is an urgent need for Africans to turn the critical analytical gaze on one of the nations and societies that exercise, in varying degrees, world domination and has been and is an actor on Africa’s present and futures.” Asymmetrical power relations between North and South cannot, it appears, be decolonised and humanised without the decolonisation of knowledge relations first.
To know and to be known in the world is for the African as important as existence itself. The production of young graduate and postgraduate African students in different disciplines and subjects that understand historical world relations between North and South is to build a platform of Afrofuturism.
African states, governments, nations and multi-lateral organisations such as Sadc, AU and ECOWAS that are grappling with the elusive liberation of African economies and polities in a difficult world stand to benefit from a bank of information, ideas and knowledge that the centre aims to generate and to archive.
Exchange programmes between scholars of the West and those of Africa are as old as higher education itself but those exchanges that are specifically critical and decolonial are something new that this envisaged centre is to promote.
Such strategic academic themes as Politics and Society, Foreign Politics and Geopolitics, Law and the Judiciary, Economics, Business and Society, Communications Media and Culture, Technology and Society, Climate Change and Climate Justice are some of the areas that the centre aims to explore.
Higher Education, Public Health, Youth and Futures, and Science and Society are also not going to be left out as academic provinces that are central in the pursuit of inventing alternative futures for peoples of the Global South.
Beyond simple interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches that are presently fashionable in the world academy, the new centre considers undisciplinarity itself, where separate and different academic disciplines are to be brought into dialogue in the university.
Coming at a time decolonisation of knowledge and that of higher education has reached a new vogue the centre is energised to experiment with epistemologies of the South and to domesticate global knowledges for local development and and since then Eng Ncube has been our MP and Zhombe is our pride. We have irrigation schemes, we have some areas where people are using tap water in rural set up because of him,” said Mrs Marvis Mlambo from Dendera Village, Zhombe.
In spite of his busy schedule as one of the most respected civil engineers not only in Zimbabwe but Africa as a whole, Eng Ncube has always tailor-made his hectic schedule to make sure that he supervises developmental projects in his constituency.
In his absence, Eng Ncube has constituency officer, Mr Mac Majokwe who makes sure that every project they would have started is completed on time. Eng Ncube makes it a point that he is always with the people in his constituency and is always visible.
“I prefer being in touch with the people always to make sure that they tell me their challenges.
“One of the biggest challenges we had in Zhombe was the problem of water and in that regard I am happy to report that we have made significant strides in making sure that the people of Zhombe have access to water. I am a civil engineer by profession and most of the laying out of pipes and irrigation scheme equipment I do the layout. We have also sunk boreholes in areas where there was no source of water nearby,” he said.
Eng Ncube said he had so far drilled five boreholes in Sengezi Ward 9, two boreholes in Navata Ward 8 among other areas.
“At the moment I am working on drilling another borehole in Ward 14, we failed to get water at 75 metres so I have engaged some experts to help us get water in that area,” he said.
Cde Mackenzie said he used his expertise to turn Dendera area into a mini town, by introducing piped water to the households.
The project was drawing water for 5km and connected water to Dendera Clinic and Dendera Primary.
“After connecting water to the school and clinic, we also connected villagers nearby, we connected water in such a manner that five households would use one tap and they are already accessing the clean water,” he said.
Mr Majokwe who is the constituency officer said he constantly moves around the constituency monitoring the projects.
“The MP also designed small irrigation schemes like the Empress water supply scheme and I usually go there to supervise and monitor, we also repair boreholes in case of breakdowns,” he said.
Mr Majokwe said the MP also built a girls’ hostel at Sidakeni Secondary to accommodate vulnerable girls who were travelling long distances to and from the school.
“Sidakeni is a day school and there are some pupils who travel long distances. The MP came up with an idea to build a hostel at the school to cater for girls who walk long distances. There were cases in which girls would be abused while on their way to and from school,” he said.
Mr Majokwe said the MP also supplied a tractor for use by plot holders at Sengwasi Irrigation Scheme.
“The plot holders mobilise their fuel and then they use the tractor to till the land, sometimes the MP gives them fuel and only last year, they were bailed out by the MP when Zesa and Zinwa threatened to cut supplies over unpaid debt,” he said.
Chief Gwesela of Zhombe said they were happy with the projects that were being implemented by the MP in the area.
“He is a hard worker and I think that’s why he is being elected in every election. He is a man of his word,” he said.