Central Committee member for ZANU PF, Dr Kudakwashe Tagwirei wowed Dzivaresekwa residents at the Zone 3 inter-district meeting on Tuesday, 18 November 2025, when he made a bold declaration that there shall be clean running water for all under the government of the second republic. It seemed too good to be true especially to those who have heard this monotonous tune for years, yet their taps run dry. The thought of another lie nauseates them.
Dzivaresekwa has been a stronghold for the opposition, until recently when the tide started turning, lending an upper hand to ZANU PF. Even so, there are still echoes of resentment towards the ruling party within the corridors of some parts of Dzivaresekwa. Multitudes came out, braced the cold weather and rain much to the persuasion of their district leaders who somehow managed to sneak in a lie that Tagwirei had arranged for food hampers to be dispensed at the meeting.
Unfortunately, the Central Committee member came empty handed, yet heavy on promises. He made another vow that towards Christmas, Dzivaresekwa residents will be treated to food hampers which he estimated to be around 12500. It is not yet clear what criteria will be used to distribute these food hampers which seem to be a drop in the ocean considering the huge population. This did not sit well with many who had spent the whole day hungry and cold expecting to smile back home as they were promised. They complained that this is exactly how politicians have been deceiving them all these years. Could Tagwirei make a difference this time around?
Sentiments of these residents have not been without validation. Politicians have had a tendency of tossing crumbs to the electorate and leave them choking each other over nothingness, yet they drive around in latest Ford Raptors, Land Cruisers without an iota of shame for failing to fulfill their campaign promises. This is colloquially known as “politics of the stomach.” Tagwirei, the recently co-opted member of the ruling party’s Central Committee was, however, not bluffing when he promised clean running water for the residents.
With his fist clenched, waving it effortlessly in the air, he repetitively recited the ruling party’s slogan. It contained the resolution number one unequivocally adopted at the party’s 22nd national people’s conference held in Mutare last month that president Emmerson Mnangagwa must extend his rulership to 2030. Tagwirei claimed that with this arrangement, it will ensure that residents of Dzivaresekwa will soon have clean running water. There was some sense of surety in his words when he mentioned that the same initiative was already moving smoothly in Warren Park where pipes have been lined up and that all residents in the area will soon forget about their water woes.
Service delivery is a hotly contested issue in various constituencies. It is the reason why residents are constantly up in arms with their representatives in parliament or other arms of government. Tagwirei seems to have struck the bull’s eye with his grandiose plan of providing clean running water, which is a basic necessity elusive in vast parts of Harare.
The Zone 3 inter-district meeting’s agenda was to give feedback to people on the resolutions that were adopted at the 22nd national people’s conference and how they were going to be implemented moving forward. With the backing of Godfrey Tsenengamu who once served as a firebrand Youth League political commissar before his expulsion in 2020, and recently welcomed back into the ZANU PF fold along with other former CCC representatives, it will be as easy as cutting butter with a hot knife for Tagwirei’s covert political ambitions.
History, however, is replete with examples of how politicians who exchanged their principles for temporary gains ended up isolated and irrelevant. Let’s hope Tagwirei will deliver his end of the bargain, and provide clean running water to Dzivaresekwa residents. He should not risk exposing his bottom after climbing up the ladder of leadership so high by following this trajectory.