{"id":1350,"date":"2025-11-05T23:26:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T23:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/?p=1350"},"modified":"2025-11-05T23:26:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T23:26:25","slug":"villagers-cry-foul-as-borehole-equipment-moved-from-kusena-to-councillors-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/2025\/11\/05\/villagers-cry-foul-as-borehole-equipment-moved-from-kusena-to-councillors-area\/","title":{"rendered":"Villagers Cry Foul as Borehole Equipment Moved from Kusena to Councillor\u2019s Area"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Fanuel Chinowaita<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Odzi, 6 November 2025<\/strong> – Villagers in Kusena, Odzi, are accusing their local councillor, Pardon Mkwakwami of ZANU PF, of diverting government-funded borehole equipment meant for their community to another area and his own home, leaving them without access to clean water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The residents claim that a borehole was drilled in Kusena under a government program, but no water was found. Despite promises to fence the garden and complete the water project, solar panels and water tanks intended for Kusena were allegedly taken to Chikara and the councillor\u2019s homestead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the whole of our area, we do not have a single borehole from the government,\u201d said one villager, who requested anonymity. \u201cWe were told there were four tanks. Instead of relocating them to Kusena School, which was the best place, the councillor decided to move them far away. People are afraid to question him because of his political influence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When contacted by The Wasu Post, Councillor Mkwakwami dismissed the allegations, insisting the relocation was based on technical reasons rather than politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe issue that it was removed because of political reasons is a lie,\u201d he said. \u201cThe water failed to be contained at the original site in Musandishowa village, not Kusena. I spoke to the MP, and we agreed to move the project about 400 meters away. The community is helping with the new installation at the school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mkwakwami further alleged that one of the tanks was stolen on October 19, 2025, while he was attending a funeral in Chipinge. \u201cI reported the theft to the police and informed the MP\u2019s secretary. One tank was stolen, but it\u2019s not true that I took anything for myself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Chikara Primary School Headmaster Mr. Moyo confirmed that part of the solar system and two JoJo tanks were installed at his school. \u201cYes, he installed them at Chikara Primary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the councillor\u2019s explanation, villagers remain unconvinced, saying there was no transparency or consultation in the relocation of the equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut why move them at the expense of villagers?\u201d one resident asked. \u201cTransparency and accountability are lacking in the way this program was handled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dispute has exposed tensions between local authorities and communities over the management of rural water projects, which many residents say are often politicized and poorly monitored.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Fanuel Chinowaita Odzi, 6 November 2025 – Villagers in Kusena, Odzi, are accusing their local councillor, Pardon Mkwakwami of ZANU PF, of diverting government-funded borehole equipment meant for their community to another area and his own home, leaving them without access to clean water. The residents claim that a borehole was drilled in Kusena…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1350"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1353,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350\/revisions\/1353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}