Citizens Initiative Frustrated Over Zvimba RDC's Failure To Provide Land For Orphanage

Full Twitter thread by US-based social activist Freeman Chari on the Zvimba Rural District Council (RDC)’s failure to provide land to the Citizens Initiative to build an orphanage in Mt Hampden.

It’s 8 months since Citizens Initiative has been trying to help build a safe space for the Mt Hampden kids. I’m going to chronicle the nonchalance & incompetence plus lack of empathy that we have faced particularly Zvimba RDC, Min of Lands, Min Social Welfare & Min Local Govt

In Sept 2020, we committed to helping build a safe children’s home with a capacity for sustainable growth contingent on getting land. We tried to look for land around the area but we got crazy quotes. We decided to approach Zvimba RDC and I reached out to the CEO Chidhakwa

First, they claimed that there were no orphans at Mt Hampden. Then I told them that we had done our due diligence. He referred me to their social worker a Mai Tsuro. They said the old ladies had to form a trust then approach them etc… To me this was bullshit

How on earth can a whole council expect people they claim have no basic education to be capable of navigating all those intricacies of bureaucracy? We were frank with them. The orphans were also their responsibility as govt. Social Welfare was abdicating its responsibility

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Our proposal was to partner with them & build a safe space not just for these but for other kids in Zvimba. We wanted ana Gogo to be the motherly figures who provide day-to-day guidance so the place is run professionally. We needed at least 2 hectares for sustainable agric

We had meetings with them and Beta Bricks offered all the bricks that we would need for the project. All we needed was land and everything would start moving. Mr Chidakwa said he would table it to the council. We waited for 3 months yet the council sits every month…