Bulawayo residents call for improved service delivery from incoming councillors

Bulawayo (New Ziana) -City councillors who were elected in last month`s harmonised elections and sworn in on Wednesday should put their hands on the deck and work to improve service delivery to residents, the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) has said.

Bulawayo Metropolitan province has 29 council wards which were all won by the opposition Citizens for Coalition Change (CCC) led by Nelson Chamisa.

Nine female councillors were also sworn in under Proportional Representation.

Like the capital Harare, the country’s second largest city is facing a myriad of challenges which need to be attended to, chief among them perennial water shortages, burst sewer pipes and mushrooming of vendors in undesignated areas.

BPRA coordinator Permanent Ngoma encouraged the new councillors to be innovative and initiate programs which will change the lives of the ordinary people.

“BPRA strongly believes that meaningful participation of all residents and all relevant stakeholders in the policy making and decision-making processes should guide the development agenda of the city as this is in line with the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Devolution and Decentralisation Policy and the country’s developmental blueprint the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1),” she said.

Ngoma added that the councillors should work towards addressing the deplorable state of service provision in the city in line with its vision of becoming a leading, smart and transformative city by year 2024.

“Bulawayo has perennial water challenges that can only be dealt with under the stewardship of innovative and critically thinking leaders who will look into addressing these challenges through short and long-term smart solutions,” she said.

She added that completion of outstanding projects such as the Gwayi- Shangani dam, Gwayi-Shangani pipeline to Bulawayo, expansion of the Nyamandlovu Aquifer and Egodini Mall are of paramount importance to the city.

“The outstanding Egodini Mall project ought to be followed up and residents should be given accurate and adequate feedback on its status by the councillors,” she said.

Ngoma said the issue of waste management should also be given top priority, particularly in high density suburbs where sewer pipe bursts have become the order of the day.

“The city, particularly in high density suburbs, is now characterised by continued sewer bursts which contribute to the spread of water borne diseases such as typhoid and cholera,” she said.

New Ziana