Online Reporter
His dream is to see the City of Bulawayo have an uninterrupted water supply, as the City is currently experiencing perennial water shortages due to climate-induced and infrastructure-related challenges.
Ward 26 Councillor Mpumelelo Moyo, who is also the Finance and Development Committee Chairperson, became a Councillor in 2022 before his re-election in 2023.
He believes that the vision of a water secure City is achievable if all stakeholders put their heads together and contends that it is time to think outside the box to take Bulawayo forward. His dream for water availability in the City is due to the challenges faced in his Ward 26 constituency, which has in the past seen some areas not accessing water due to the different gradients in the suburb.
The father of two and holder of a Post Graduate Degree in Finance and Investment with the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), is an advocate for local development. He states that being a Councillor puts him in the nucleus to drive local development.
Cllr Moyo is alive to the challenges affecting the City in service delivery and believes the City’s policy makers can contribute to improved service delivery by proffering alternative solutions that are practical, feasible and cost-effective.
He calls for proactive residents who engage with the Council, citing innovation as the only way to improve service delivery in line with the City’s vision.
“I believe times are changing and there are things that we might need to do differently as a City. For example, we have aging sewer and water infrastructure, which is ordinarily called off-site infrastructure, which cannot be funded by the revenue collections from residents. We need to follow principles such as the one from NUST motto, “Think in other terms” or what the ordinary man calls “thinking outside the box,” to develop the City,” said Cllr Moyo.
He said the City has done well in proposing the establishment of a Council-owned 100 percent Water and Sanitation Utility.
“Such utilities are agile in attending to the challenges faced by cities. For instance, the turnaround time for acquiring equipment for repairs and attending to those repairs is faster. The Water and Sanitation Utility can attract funding outside Council’s normal channels, which is normally bill payments and is usually exhausted in recurrent expenditure.”
Cllr Moyo said if Council establishes the Water and Sanitation Utility, prevailing challenges can be significantly reduced.
He added that bulk water delivery can also improve as Council will be in a position to replace obsolete infrastructure that has seen the City losing up to 48 percent of its treated water through non-revenue water.
“The ideal Bulawayo I want to see as a City Father is the Bulawayo where water is available 24/7 in people’s houses. This is my dream and my Prayer. I believe it will retain dignity for our residents, whom I believe spend more time fetching water instead of doing other things or being with their families. In my mind, I have no doubt this will be achieved soon taking into consideration the various initiatives in place within Council and the Government’s commitment to complete the Gwayi Shangani Dam,” he said.
Cllr Moyo highlighted that addressing the water challenges effectively deals with sewer bursts that are exacerbated by water shedding.
“Sewer bursts are inevitable when there is water shedding, since there won’t be enough flow of water in the sewer pipes and sludge is created. When water supplies are restored, there is very little flow on the system causing these sewer chokes,” said Cllr Moyo.
Cllr Moyo added that as part of the mid-term strategies to improve water delivery, Council was also conducting feasibility studies to assess the possibility of accessing underground water in the Nketa area.
“Other initiatives that are proposed are the Nketa/Emganwini Aquifer, proposed construction of the Glass Block Bopoma dam through the Joint Venture Initiative between the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA), and J R Goddard and the Government is also seized with the completion of Gwayi Shangani Dam. I have no doubt that in the near future water challenges
will be a thing of the past for the City of Bulawayo and our sewer challenges will also drastically reduce once we have water flowing in our sewer pipes 24/7,” said Cllr Moyo.
His academic qualification comes in handy in the Finance and Development Committee, which he chairs, describing the Committee as the custodian of City’s Budget, ensuring adherence to Government financial statutes, monthly analysis of financial statements for the City and other interdepartmental considerations where there are financial implications. –Masiyephambili Weekly
