Staff Writer
The Member of Parliament for Epworth North , Zivai Mhetu,has pledged to channel his entire parliamentary salary towards community welfare while pressing government authorities to urgently improve healthcare, education, policing and road infrastructure in the high-density settlement.
Addressing a feedback meeting attended by about 3,000 residents, the Mhetu said he had set aside his full 2025 salary for the benefit of constituents. “My salary is US$280 a month, and when you multiply it by 12, it comes to US$3,360. That is the money I gave to the constituency,” he said.
He said the funds were used to purchase food after his constituency development committee advised that hunger was the most pressing challenge facing residents. “The committee told me that the people are hungry, so I decided to buy food. Everyone who attended went home with a packet of rice,” he said.
Mhetu said he had committed to redirecting his 2026 salary towards community-driven projects, saying residents would determine how the funds would be utilised. “It is the people of Epworth who must tell me what I should use my salary for,” he said.
On development funding, the legislator confirmed that Epworth received its full Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocation for 2025, which was used to rehabilitate roads. “We made roads, we compacted them, and despite the heavy rains, the roads were not swept away,” he said.
Looking ahead,Mhetu proposed a coordinated funding model involving the Epworth Local Board, the Ministry of Transport and the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (NARA) to ensure longer-lasting roads. “If the CDF for 2026 comes, we buy gravel and compact it, then NARA can channel its allocation in the form of tar so that the roads are durable,” he said.
The MP also raised concerns about access to healthcare, particularly emergency services. “People are dying on their way to general hospitals because we do not have a 24-hour medical facility,” he said. He added that plans were underway to engage authorities in 2026 to upgrade one of Epworth’s clinics to district status, enabling it to offer surgeries, scans, X-rays and mortuary services.
Education standards were another concern, with the legislator urging private school operators to employ trained teachers. “Many schools are taking school leavers to become teachers, and the quality of education our children are getting is lacking in terms of conduct and decorum,” he said.
On policing, residents complained of poor service delivery at the area’s only police station, despite Epworth’s rapidly growing population.
“With a population close to one million, we only have one police station,” the House of Assembly member said, adding that he would engage government authorities in 2026 to push for the construction of another station.
The legislator also announced plans to establish a Parliament Information Centre in Epworth to support empowerment and vocational skills training. “We have asked the Epworth Local Board to provide us with land so that Parliament can give us funds to build the centre,” he said.