Vusumuzi Dube
Vusumuzi Dube, Zimpapers Elections Desk
NEWLY elected councillors in Bulawayo have been urged to set aside party politics and push towards the improvement of service delivery as well as ensuring the revival of the city’s status as the country’s industrial hub.
The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) won all 29 wards in the city during the harmonised elections that were held last Wednesday. CCC leader, Mr Nelson Chamisa has already endorsed former Education Minister, David Coltart to be the next city mayor. Residents in the city have since said the newly elected councillors’ work was cut out for them as the state of service delivery was there for all to see.
Bulawayo United Residents Association (Bura) chairperson, Mr Winos Dube said once the councillors were elected, they now needed to rise above petty party politics and realise that they were now in office to represent residents not the political parties they belonged to.
“As an apolitical institution, I would like to firstly congratulate the newly elected councillors. The challenge, however, from the onset, is for them to rise above political persuasions. Being elected into council means that they are no longer candidates but they now represent residents’ views in council.
They should strive to keep in touch with the residents who they are representing. We should not get to a point where these councillors do not meet with the residents or even shun to give out vital information, knowing that residents are their key stakeholders,” said Mr Dube.
He said there were a lot of projects that needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency, which the new crop of councillors had to embrace and ensure that they find lasting solutions to.
“Service delivery has been deteriorating for the past 23 years, we have all been witnessing this decline and now it is the onus of this new council to work and ensure that they revive service delivery in the city.
We have the Egodini rehabilitation project that needs to be attended to so that the city regains its order because as long as there is no movement in completing that project, congestion will continue being the order of the day in the CBD.
There is also the issue of water where residents have to endure water shedding year in year out, we thus call on the incoming councillors to work closely with all the stakeholders who matter so as to come up with a lasting solution to this crisis,” said the Bura chairperson.
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA), secretary for administration, Mr Thembelani Dube echoed Bura chairperson’s sentiments noting that the new councillors should foster servant leadership if they were to be successful in their mandate.
“As it is we have been talking of water challenges every year, we hope these councillors will immediately be tackling this issue. Yes, there are dams being constructed but in the interim residents should be given some cushion and this should come from the councillors. There is also disorder in the CBD and this disorder is caused, in my view, by the continued delay in the completion of the Egodini project. That project is fast turning into a white elephant while the congestion and the disorder in the CBD continues. Further, we expect these new councillors to continuously meet and consult residents, like in the budget making process. What used to happen is that councillors would discuss the budget in their meetings, then come to present it as is to residents without initially having a baseline meeting with the residents to get their input,” added Mr Dube.
Online Reporter