adminHarare residents have been urged to vote for experienced, progressive and creative councillors in the forthcoming elections.
The Harare Residents’ Trust (HRT) said Local Government was at the heart of socio-economic development and therefore it needed to be depoliticised to ensure that only people who were passionate about running local authorities were given an opportunity to do so.
In a recent statement, HRT said the responsibility was on residents to evaluate the credentials of aspiring councillors.
“Residents must, therefore, critically assess councillors seeking to represent them. Further, residents are urged to evaluate the credentials of council candidates before they vote for them. Such evaluation includes, political backgrounds, competence- and integrity-based on outcome they produce towards residents,” read the statement.
Some political parties, HRT said, were letting down their loyal supporters by selecting incompetent candidates to run for council office.
“Based on the last two or three elections, more than 70 percent of the respondents (in a survey held recently) indicated that they did not change the party that they voted for in council elections. Such voting behaviour points to an electorate with consistent voting preferences. Political parties enjoying such loyalty need to reciprocate by fielding competent candidates.” — HR.
Online Reporter