Make presence felt, MP told

Walter Mswazie in MASVINGO
Councillors here have called on the Masvingo Urban legislator (MDC-Alliance) Mr Jacob Nyokanhete to make his presence in the constituency felt by attending important council meetings.

The City Fathers said yesterday that if the parliamentarian was preoccupied with other matters at the expense of council meetings, it was going to be hard for him to appreciate some of the concerns within his constituency.

Speaking during a full council meeting on Monday night, Ward 10 Councillor Sengerayi Manyanga expressed concern over the cutting of water supplies in the city due to incessant load shedding.

He said some issues were beyond council’s capacity and called for the intervention of the local legislator.
Cllr Manyanga said since time immemorial, the local authority’s water supply was not affected by power cuts as the main water plant, Bushmead had a dedicated power line but of late it has not been spared.

“My worship, as councillors, we have a problem with our MP (Manyanga) who is not visible. The previous council had the same problem with former MP, Dr Daniel Shumba who used to shun its invitations and never set foot here.

“Can we do something so that our honourable legislator helps us by approaching the Minister of Energy and Power Development ,Cde Fortune Chasi over our issues at Bushmead Water Works and also in addressing some cross cutting challenges we are facing as a local authority,” said Clr Manyanga.

Ward 9, Clr Against Chiteme weighed in and requested the Mayor, Cllr Collen Maboke and Town Clerk Adolf Gusha to write to Mr Nyokanhete a letter so that he can attend some of the local authorities’ meetings.

“I kindly request that our Mayor and Town Clerk help us in this regard by inviting our legislator, Hon Nyokanhete.
“We should concentrate on addressing our challenges without considering political affiliations, Dr Shumba was Zanu PF and our complaints were still loud.”