'No one tells me what to do' says defiant Councillor

A defiant Gwanda Municipal Councillor for ward 9 Thulani Moyo says that he does not need anyone to approve any "developmental" work he needs to do in the ward.

Councillor Moyo was speaking at a tense meeting which had a clash of bookings between the Councillor and the Residents Association. The Interim Residents Association called for a meeting which was cleared with the police and incidentally Councillor Moyo had also called for a ward meeting at the same venue and at the same time.

According to the Public Order and Security Act, all public gatherings especially of a political or civic nature must be cleared with the police first and any double bookings of meetings avoided by the police at that stage. The Residents Association confirmed to having their meeting cleared by the police confirmation which the councillor could not have for his meeting.

There were two very distinct groupings of residents attending the meeting, those coming in with the councillor and those coming in with the residents association. In the end the councillor managed to take control of the meeting claiming he had arranged his meeting way before the Residents Association which he did not recognise.

Addressing the meeting, Councillor Moyo started by blasting the Residents Association for calling a meeting in "his ward" without his authority. He emphasised that any meeting involving residents in the ward must be sanctioned by him first and residents must never attend any meeting made via a notice that does not have his stamp as approval. Moyo accused the residents association of being aligned to people that are out to destroy him.

Changing to the main issue of the day which was to discuss the asbestos infected gravel that he was spreading on the roads in his ward amidst rumours that the gravel was poisonous and not fit to be used in a human inhabitant environment, councillor Moyo said that those who are blaming him of spreading the gravel on the roads are those failing to effect developments in their wards and so attempting to bring him down. Moyo challenged anyone who says the gravel is poisonous to come forward with laboratory tests reports to prove that the gravel was indeed poisonous and he will replace the gravel by putting tar on all the roads in his ward.

"I am ready for anyone who can come forward and prove that the gravel is poisonous and I will move to plan B which we already have in place. If they say I must remove the gravel, I will remove it and put tarred roads in the whole ward am not scared and I have the capacity to do that," said Moyo amidst cheers from his group of supporters.

Speaking on behalf of the Residents Association, the spokesperson for the Association Mr Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo said that the Association was not against any developmental programmes that the councillor was undertaking but had come to the ward to discuss the issue presented to it by some residents in the ward that there were fears that the gravel being put on the road was not safe. Maduma Fuzwayo explained that the concerned residents had given them a 48 hour deadline to come up with an answer from council clarifying if indeed the gravel was unsafe and what council was going to do if the gravel was proven to be unsafe.

Fuzwayo went on to explain that the Association had written to council and extended the same ultimatum to which council did not respond to in the stipulated time hence the Association calling for a general ward meeting to discuss issue. He further explained that after council failed to respond in the stipulated time the concerned residents indicated that they will on Monday apply for an urgent court interdict asking the court to close off all the roads on which the gravel has been spread including Senondo Primary School grounds until Council provides a statement confirming the safety of the gravel.

In response, Councillor Moyo expressed shock that Council had failed to provide an answer on the gravel as Council knows very well that the gravel is safe for use. Moyo indicated that he had discussed the issue with the Town Engineer Mr Phakamile Ndebele and the Director of Housing and Community Services Mrs Sipho Mdlongwa and they were there when the first load of the gravel was spread on the road and gave him a green light to put the gravel.

"The engineer smiled when we put the first load and said this was going to be a very good project when completed," said Moyo. "Am surprised today when these newspapers, Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp now say council does not know about the gravel." Moyo further indicated that the gravel is not only spread in his ward but several other places including all roads at Tshindeni Mine and Tshindeni Primary School. According to him Member of Parliament for Gwanda Central Engineer Edison Gumbo also spread the same gravel at Mount Cazalet Primary School in the run up to the elections and he is shocked to hear the MP today also condemning him in other sectors. Moyo also pointed out that the Mayor Councillor Knowledge Ndlovu also spread the same gravel at his butchery where people buy, braai and eat meat.

Responding from the floor some residents castigated all those who were complaining of the gravel as being against development and their councillor. The residents assured the Councillor of their support and encouraged him to continue doing the road works he is doing. The sector of the residents loyal to the councillor took turns to blast representatives of the Residents Association, The Mayor, The MP, other residents and Council accusing them of being jealous with Councillor Moyo for bringing development which council and other previous councillors had failed to do.

In his conclusion Councillor Moyo assured the seemingly confused and divided house that he was going to stop at nothing to bring development in the ward. He assured the residents that he had the political and financial backing within government and his party (in this case ZANU PF) to make sure that everything he wants to do will be done.

"No one will stop me from doing anything I want to do here. Even my family knows that when I want to do something no one can stop me. I am not going to listen to anyone at all but will do what I know is right," he said.

"As I leave this meeting I am going to Harare to meet some high ranking officials on issues that will bring development to this ward and I want to assure you that I m going to get what I want from them. I never fail to get anything I want and I am not going to listen to anyone trying to stand on my way. I was not elected through Facebook, Whatsapp or Newspapers but by you and I am going to do everything that I promised you to do in my campaign" concluded Moyo.

"For now go home and don't listen to anything called a Residents Association I will tell you myself when I am ready for it and we will come and choose our own residents association not this one of people from opposition parties."

Speaking in an interview after the meeting, Maduma Fuzwayo blamed the Councillor for trying to mobilise residents against the association and said they will not be deterred by some politically motivated statements to ensue that a proper and all inclusive Residents Association is set up by the residents of Gwanda in general and ward 9 in particular with or without the Councillor's consent.

"The Councillor needs to understand that whether he wants it or not residents are going to come up with a Residents Association and that does not need council approval. All we need to do is just to come up with a working document with council not their approval."

On the issue of the gravel, Maduma Fuzwayo said: "As a representative of the residents we really appreciate the efforts and good work that Councillor Moyo has done and we not against it. All that Moyo needs to understand is that we are protecting him by demanding clarification if the gravel is safe. If its tested and proven safe its a plus for him. He doesn't need to fight against this move but work along with it."