Zanu-PF Matabeleland North provincial members have challenged the Provincial Affairs and Devolution minister, Richard Moyo, to immediately relocate to Lupane and experience first-hand the challenges facing his counterparts in the civil service.
The call was made during the party’s provincial inter-district conference in Lupane last week, where members debated and adopted resolutions to be presented at the 23rd Zanu-PF annual conference, scheduled for Chinhoyi in October.
The issue arose during a debate on a resolution calling for the full relocation of the provincial government offices to Lupane to improve the visibility of the government and access to essential services.
The resolution reads: "That the government provincial offices fully relocate to Lupane to strengthen visibility and access to essential services to the locals."
While members supported the relocation, they said the process could not be completed without addressing the acute shortage of accommodation for civil servants and other infrastructure challenges in the provincial capital.
Some members challenged Moyo to lead the relocation process by moving to Lupane himself and experiencing the conditions confronting residents and government workers.
Lupane, situated about 180 kilometres east of Bulawayo, was designated the capital of Matabeleland North in 1999, during the administration of the former president, Robert Mugabe.
The decision was part of a broader decentralisation policy intended to bring government services closer to rural communities and reduce over-reliance on Bulawayo, which had historically served as the administrative hub for both Matabeleland provinces.
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However, for years after the designation, provincial government departments continued to operate from the Mhlahlandlela government complex in Bulawayo, citing a lack of infrastructure, accommodation and office space in Lupane.
The government subsequently developed the Welshman Mabhena Government Complex in Lupane as part of efforts to establish the town as the administrative and service-delivery centre of the province.
As of January 2025, only 55 workers from various ministries, departments and agencies had relocated to Lupane, while the majority remained in Bulawayo because accommodation was "not enough for everyone," according to Moyo.
Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs permanent secretary, Sithandiwe Ncube, also confirmed that accommodation was affecting the relocation process, although almost every ministry was now operating from the Lupane Government Complex.
Tsholotsho MP Musa Ncube said even the minister's official residence in Lupane was not ready for occupation.
Ncube said she had toured the minister's house with Vice-President Kembo Mohadi and found it incomplete.
She also said the minister's house did not have adequate bathing facilities, and noted that the minister's privileges do not allow him to go and stay in that house.
Ncube called for resources to be channelled towards the construction of houses for civil servants, saying accommodation was essential if the government expected its workers to relocate to Lupane.
She also raised concern over overcrowding in some households, saying inadequate accommodation could worsen social challenges.
"Take, for example, a husband and wife and they have four children and share two rooms," she said.
"We are talking about GBV going down. How would they share? They will end up fighting."
Another party member, however, said provincial leaders should not be insulated from the conditions experienced by ordinary residents in Lupane.
"I beg to differ with what has been said by our mother," she said.
"The minister is our child; he should come and stay with us (ebhuqwini) in the dust so that he will know that the place really has lots of dust. He should come and push the things for us while here."
Another party member said the government had not done enough to provide accommodation for civil servants, despite the need for provincial leadership and departments to be based in Lupane.
"It is loud and clear that the leadership of this province needs you; it is also loud and clear that the government has not done enough in terms of accommodation of civil servants," the resident said.
The party member called for adequate funding to address the accommodation shortage.
Responding to the concerns, Moyo proposed that housing should be prioritised as part of the relocation programme.
"I propose that the offices be replaced by the houses of civil servants," he said.
The accommodation challenge has been a long-standing impediment to the relocation of Matabeleland North's provincial government departments from Bulawayo to Lupane.
