Dear Editor- In a typical example of poverty of leadership, Mberengwa East Member of Parliament, Raidza, was dishonourable by stopping a guest of honour, Comings Hove, from delivering his speech and giving prices he had brought to Nhenga primary school.

The school had invited the guest of honour, Hove, who brought counter books, exercise books, pens, satchels, rulers, t-shirts, skin tights, and tracksuits for pupils, and food hampers for teachers and some poor parents in the SDC.

Hon Raidza got wind of it and on the day of the Speech and Price giving day, 4 December 2019, went to the school and called teachers for a Kangaroo court.

He declared that the invited guest would not officiate at the occasion and must be told in no uncertain terms to go back and never leave any prices at the school. The MP also dragged Zanu PF branch chairpersons to the school and gave a command that in his absence no school meeting must be conducted in the absence of such Zanu PF functionaries, unless the teachers wanted to invite trouble.

The MP claimed that the new dispensation calls for all schools to be party of Zanu pf structures.

Evidently, Raidza envisages that he should be a guest of honour at every school in Mberengwa East, which is impossible.

Yet, he was invited as a guest of honour at Nhenga Primary School in 2017, and promised to give the school some donations which he has not materialised up to now.

As PTUZ, we want to remind the ill-informed MP that schools are institutions of teaching and learning, and not political expediency.

He must also be reminded that schools are politics free zones, and he must never smuggle Zanu PF branch chairpersons into running of schools.

Schools are free to invite guests of honour of their choice at their functions, and the MP has no right to disparage, humiliate and stop assistance earmarked to benefit schools in one way or another.

Raidza’s is fast becoming a human epidemic and the earlier Zanu pf brings him to order, the better.

His behaviour is callous, and tantamount to cold and calculated educational vandalism and must never be accepted in a country 39 years after independence.

Mberengwa will certainly remain mirrored in backwardness, underdevelopment and misery, if Raidza’s leadership is anything to go by.

Development knows no political affiliation, and sons and daughters of Mberengwa, let alone fathers and mothers must unite across the political divide to foster the development of Mberengwa.

Narrow-mindedness, prejudice, one armed banditry and political expediency must never be acceptable antics in the 21st century Zimbabwe.

Dr Takavafira M. Zhou (PTUZ President)