FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES.

DEPARTMENT POLITICS AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

An assessment on the impact of rural politics on the social rural development ; A Case
study Plumtreerural areas from 2013-2020

By

Ntandoyenkosi Nleya

R177384M

MODE OF ENTRY: CONVENTIONAL

SUPERVISOR:   PROFESSOR P. CHIGORA

INTRODUCTION

Rural politics has been the major pillar within the development aspect for rural areas through
different dimensions which clearly shape and alleviate proper procedure for development. Thus
the author saw it necessary to dwell on the impact of rural politics as a way to determine the rural
development and try to delineate on the problems associated or surrounding the rural
development on political base line. Thus various problems have been put across as the major
challenges which are clearly aligned to rural politics and this has been affecting the rural
areas ,rural dwellers` and other stake holders since such associated problems are hindering or
blocking the clear concept of development of rural areas in all sector such as political ,economic
and social delivery which is being blocked through rural politics. According to Mareni (2007)
the best way of trying to foster for development has to emanate from the basic and real valued
political thoughts. Therefore the study will focus on the impact of rural politics as one of the
challenge which has caused underdevelopment and development within the facets of rural
areas .In that path the proposal contain the background study ,which outlines the prior studies
which were conducted in line with the current topic ,the statement problem and also the inclusion
of the targeted population which include the Plumtree rural district employees and members of
the society on giving detailed information on how rural politics have affected social rural
development is being blocked or limited through various problems in the case study of Plumtree.

1.1 Background of the study.

Since from the time of Rhodesia the aspect of rural development in all sectors has been a major
talk within the governmental institutions as a way to promote and foster for good standard of life
within communities. Thus politicians have tried to introduce policies up from central government
chain to the local periphery as a way to bargain and try to bring fruition of development. With
the above in mind policies such as land husbandry Act, Animal text and Hat text hence have
been policies implemented by the Rhodesian government towards the rural communities but, as
the Afro-centric view prescribe these policies and Acts worsened and crippled the social rural
development within the rural sector of Zimbabwe. With the introduction of new Zimbabwe in
1980, which was born through the liberation struggle, angles shifted towards the rural
development. Thus according to Magaisa (2007) Mugabe's regime introduced a strong and
vibrant campaign towards rural development which solved the question of rural development
though in a partial way. The introduction of education for all policy which resulted in the built of
many school by Mugabe and also the aspect of aid monetarily and socially. In 2000 another
chance for rural development was created thus the farmers fast track land reform programme
whereby land within rural farms was re-allocated and reserves were created such as Plumtree.
That emanated as a political catalyst by ZANU PF to harness political masses, but still the gap of
social rural development was left in its fall capacity. Thus the electoral reforms in rural areas
have been marginalized and politics of fear has eradicate the hope and trust of political
gymnastics. Therefore the study will focus on the impact of rural politics which has emanated
from chiefdoms and also political terror within the interference of Chiefs and Headmen. Thus
rural politics have played a role in shaping social development.

1:2 Statement of the problem.

Observation has shown that rural politics has not been carried out effectively to the extent that it
has managwed to bring and impart other problems within the rural areas as away of suppressing
development, thus rural politics has affected and shape development in either positive or
negative way in most parts of the Zimbabwe due to diversity of challenges emanating from
different anchors. Rural development can be hindered due to lack of resources or any other
difficulties, but it is of no doubt to say challenges faced by the rural areas emerge and consist of
rural politics which started as a bedroom politics, issues coming up from the central
government. The practice of rural politics as prerogated by the rural act that every citizen within
the rural setting is allowed to participate and decern their political ambitions and golas. This then
gives the researcher the question why fingers are pointed on political leaders? At some point the
of operations rural town council from central government and local government ministries
continuously interfered and distorted and this weaken rural council for proper development as
an aspect of service delivery was politicized with the interference of political parties which are
more powerful than rural administration. On this juncture therefore the research seeks to
investigate the impact or harm which has been created by rural politics on rural development on
Plumtree rural areas.

1.3 Research objectives.

The specific objectives of this study are: -

To identify the challenges blocking on Rural development in Plumtree rural council from
(2013-2020).

To assess the gravity of rural politics towards social rural development in rural politics in
Plumtree rural council.

To explore what type of people within the habitants of Pluimtree rural areas are being tormented
by the major problem of rural politics and aligning it to development.
To explore the significance of rural politics towards rural development in Zimbabwe

To proffer recommendations on how to improve social rural development in Plumtree.

Research questions.

How social rural development is improved by countering problems in Plumtree rural areas.

How is rural politics hindering social rural development affecting the residentials of Plumtree.

What are other challenges associated with rural politics that may impede the effective provision
of social rural development

What actions has the central and local Government take to improve rural development

Which recommendations can be adopted to improving rural development in Plumtree.

Significance of the study.

To Plumtree rural District Council

This research will highlight all the challenges that are being faced by Plumtree rural areas
ermanating from rural politics as this research also indicated and give clear analysis on how
each of these challenges have impacted on rural development from the central government to
local government. This makes the Plumtree rural district council to look upon the gaps that
needs to be amended for better operation of the local government sector on the issue of rural
development.

To Midlands State University.

The research will act as guidance for future generation if they want to look on the same area of
study .This also gave the institution source to reference and a good reputation once the research
published on the on website of Midlands state university. The study will assist the department of
Politics and Public Managent in composure and gathering current information surrounding
governance issues so as to come up with possible solutions to various problems concerning
governance within the public at large.

To the researcher.

This research will also expose the researcher with some research techniques and knowledge
through interactions with , top officials of Plumtree rural district council , Plumtree rural area
and residents of Plumtree on aspects affecting the social rural development. The researcher will
also have opportunities to give possible solutions and strategies on the matters that concern
service delivery and the basic practical know how of how the processes in conducting or
fostering social service delivery are done in the context of Public management and
adminstration.

Delimitations

The research will be mainly focused on the rural politics faced by local rural authourities in the
process of social rural development at large.Thus factors which are at play for the poor services
in Plumtree are going to be delineated accordingly . This might not eliminate some of the
problem of poor services delivery since some challenges will not be investigated and addressed
since a vast research area carters for research in line with social development.

Limitations

Due to out outbreak of the deadly disease Corona virus the researcher will be limited to reach
more of Plumtree rural residents each and more of public institution to collect data. Also its
some information is confidentiality some politicians might not give much information hence the
researcher limited to access some secondary information. Shortage of transport money limited
the researcher to reach area of Plumtree for data collection.

They are the limits on generalizability and results practicality that are the result of ways chosen
to match the methods selected to guarantee the viability of the research.

Limited knowledge and information can be a barrier in carrying out this study. As the research is
related to the modern-day political situation, some respondents may fear consequences if they
give their point of views. The researcher will assure the respondents that their names will not be
included.

Some of the targeted respondents can be too busy to attend the researcher. Respondents may find
it hard to leave their office work attending the researcher. Senior government officials and
leaders of within the local authourities have a history of failing to meet appointments with
researchers due to the avoidance of political bounds.

The aspect of labelling might fall on the respondents to the extent that they might be labeled as
anti nationalist and patriotist.

Theoretical framework

On this study l will make use of the New Public Management theory which is a theory of socio-
economic phenomena exhibiting human interaction, that is the basis of the management within
the local authorities and cooperation between decision making individuals (the players)
according to Gurlick and Urwick (1965). Thus , the theory is based on the structural procedures
of providing an admistrative role towards the local authourities inorder to foster for social
service delivery inorder to reach a goal accountability. Thus the Evolution of Public
Management theory focuses on aspects of managers as partakers in daily activities towards
guaranteeing the successive social service delivery components such as health ,finance ,political
and other social aspects through organisisng directing reporting ,budgeting in line with Fayol
14 concepts of management principles. The theory also focuses on the devolution role from the
central central government down to the local authourities as a new morden way of propelling
democracy within the spheres of good conduct of governance thus the right to full health
operations is necessary . The power of coalitions between central and local government and the
resulting influence of individuals, principles of bargaining and axiomatic treatment of solutions,
complaints and threats, efficiency and effectiveness, reputation and learning are being discussed
on a formal level. Therefore l will use this theory since it advocates for cooperation, bargaining
power, thereby providing a peaceful resolution to the challenges which are facing local
authorities on service delivery.

Research Approach

This refers to the techniques and strategies that are used within a discipline in order to gather
data and also acquire information relavant for a specific study . A bia method approach was
used thus triangulation, which entails both qualitative and quantitative. This gave room the
researchers to gather data using multiple methods like questionnaires, interviews, focus
discussion groups and observation which are quantitative and qualitative as supported by
Nalynon (2018) who asserts that mixed methods research allows for the opportunity to
compensate for inherent weaknesses in different methods, capitalize on inherent method
strengths and offset inevitable method biases. Dreight et al (2018), maintains that the
methodology section of a research paper answers two main questions: How was the data
collected or generated

Research design:
Telrey (2011) defines a research design as a framework or plan used as a guide in collecting and
analyzing data. He expands that a research design is a blueprint used for the collection and
interpretation of data. The researcher will pay a visit to the Plumtree rural District council to
conduct interviews with the Chief executive Officer of Plumtree rural council and other
employees in the field of Rural district council .Thus in this format the focus group discussion
will be more vital especially to the employees in the health department. The researcher will also
administer nine questionnaires, to the Bulilima District rural areas dwellers who fall under
Plumtree rural District council as a way to source information concerning the challenges which
are facing local authourities on social rural development.

Targeted Population :

Maison (2010) define population as elements included in a sample that meet the stipulated
criteria. The researcher will select small percentage of people in Thekwani ,Bulilima Disterict
location area with at least a number 10 people for the study which will represent the whole
population, employees in the local authorities will also be also part and parcel of the research
population. Thus the targeted population will reveal the information that the researcher needed
to analyse.

Sampling Technics:

According to Gramsci (1979) sample is the specific group that the researcher will collect precise
data from and the sample is always less than the total size of the population. In such conduct
the stratified random sampling is going to be used, that involves the division of a population into
smaller sub-groups known as strata in which those strata share same traits for example the health
workers strictly in the health department. Thus by organizing strata the researcher will end up
paving a clear questionnaire platform inorder to derive information and also the substantial group
focus. The researcher selected the population based on their characteristics and the researchers
own judgment and opinion on the population. For instance in this research the researcher is
interested in studying about the challenges which are facing local authorities on the vital aspect
such as service delivery which is the core business of local government ,hence the researcher will
have to choose participants who are affected or involved in the disputes. Purposive sampling was
also included as a way of selecting a sample on the basis of the researcher’s knowledge of the
population, its elements and the nature of the research aims. Therefore this method will help the
researcher because the population selected will have the knowledge on the positive and negative
implications faced by councils within the local systems.

Research instruments

Research tool used to collect, measure, and analyze data related to your research interests. The
researcher is going to implement the use of questionnaires as research instruments within the
process of research thus questions are going to be conducted towards asking and veryfing data
through asking the employees within the health sector and also the citizens which fall under the
Bulilima rural District council. A questionnaire is a research instrument that consists of a set of
questions or other types of prompts that aims to collect information from a respondent. Thus
questions such as ( 1) what are the challenges on the neck of local authorities on service delivery
(2) What impacts have those challenges impacted on social political and economic (3) the
percentage rate which can be noticed interms upward health upward mobility and downward
mobility and who are the marginalized group of people affected by such challenges .

Disadvantages of questionnaires

1. Its low reliability and validity gives secondary information when primary evidence is at hand.

2. Sometimes, questionnaires become simply a pooling of ignorance. It is compilation of the

opinions of many persons who may not know the correct answer

3.If the area of research is sensitive or confidential in nature, designing questionnaire for such
area is an hefty task.

4. It permits the respondents to modify his answers to earlier questions when he notices that he is
contradicting himself while answering some later questions

Ethical considerations :

The ethics of social science research are voluntary participation and harmlessness, anonymity
and confidentiality, disclosure and analysis and reporting as cited by Srought ( 2018). Research
ethics refers to a code of practice that governs the manner in which the research process should
be conducted Ethics are the norms or standards for conduct that distinguish between right and
wrong. Ethical considerations are so important in research because ethical standards prevent
against the fabrication or falsifying of data and therefore promote the pursuit of knowledge and
truth which is the primary goal of research. On the aspect of harmless the researcher will make
sure that the respondent’s information will not be used against him or her in any way since
names are not going to be revealed where necessary ,also the aspect of confidentiality is going to
be observed through avoiding details of of respondements. Hence research ethics are important
since they guarantee validity and reliability of the research.

Data Presantation and Analysis Procedure

There are many ways of analysing and presenting data, the researcher will use content analysis
which is a research tool used to determine the presence of certain words, themes, or concepts
within some given qualitative data (i.e. text). Using content analysis, researchers can quantify
and analyze the presence, meanings and relationships of such certain words, themes, or
concepts.Thus the use of graphs on showing the challenges which are facing local authourities on
service delivery.

CHAPTER OUTLINE
CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION

This chapter sets the basis of the whole dissertation, it will provide the introduction, the
background study, statement of problem, delimitations of the study, reaserch objectives,reaserch
questions, justification of the study, limitations and organization of the study.

CHAPTER 2-LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORATICAL FRAMEWORK

In this chapter all literature reviews are considered and also theories related to the research study
are also aligned.

CHAPTER 3-REASERCH METHODOLOGY

In this chapter aspects such as reaserch design, sampling techniques ,sampling population ,all
these methods used by the reasecher to collect data will be considered and the data analysis
concept.

CHAPTER 4-DATA PRESANTATION AND ANALYSIS

Data findings in line with the study will be presented and analyzed in form of triangulation thus
both using qualitative and quantitative with tables and graphs

CHAPTER 5-SUMMARY ,CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

In this chapter after all the necessary procedures a detailed conclusions and what the researcher
recommends will be included and provided to carter for the problem which lead to the study.

Summary.

This chapter primarily anchors on the background of the study, significant of the study,
objectives of the research and questions that can be drawn with reference to the objectives. It
also focusing on the limitation and delimitations faced by the researcher as well the ways in
which the researcher encountered them. The chapter also showcased clarification that the
research is going to put much focus on Bulilima rural District Council, indicating some lessons
particularly on service delivery. Also definition of terms that adds water to the research is also
covered in this chapter. The findings of the research will provide Plumtree town Council and
other local government sectors to implement reforms that can improve services delivery.
s

REFERENCING

Strought.S.(2018 ) Ethical considerations and its impacts;Plain Publishing house;Braxton

Gramsci.A.(1979) An ideology of Sampling and its techniques;Fox rench ;Brighton house

Craigy,Y.T.(2010) The aspect of targeted research Population ;Anthlony park press;Uk

Telrey,E.C.(2011) Research as an Scientific art;Recon fats press;Mexico UCE

Nalyon,U.I, and Dreight ,H (2018) at al.. Research Programes and their Antics;Orate
Press ;Australia

Gurlick .L and Urwick. L. (1965) Papers on the Science of Administration. Institute of Public
Administration, New York. has been cited by the following article: TITLE: The Impact of
Memory Load on Customer Choice Behavior

Masocha.I.M.(2017) The Population Growth in Zimbabwe;Mambo Press ;Gweru

Rujeke k,l. (2015) The growth of urban councils;Factual Grim 2014

Melash,D.C.(1975) A development of mining sector to a Town level,Irene Press ;Yakim