Professor Ncube must ignore councillors' talk shows

SO an aspiring candidate rehabilitated roads in a constituency and the local council has its knickers in a twist saying the candidate should have obtained permission from them. Really? Talk of a sense of self-importance. A public good has been done and all you can think of is yourself? Go home!"

The above statement was made by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Mr Nick Mangwana, on social media last week after Bulawayo City Council councillors went overdrive, criticising Zanu-PF aspiring Member of Parliament for Cowdray Park constituency, Professor Mthuli Ncube for rehabilitating roads and drilling boreholes for residents.

Nonetheless, it came as no surprise as the council has been acting strangely of late. It recently put a public notice reminding residents of a law that prohibits residents from repairing roads without council approval. All this comes after the council has neglected its roads across the city with some areas virtually unreachable, especially during the rainy season. Many residents believe that if it was not because of Government intervention to repair major roads countrywide, city roads will be worse off.

Furthermore, the water situation would be even worse, had the Government not chipped in and rehabilitated boreholes at the Nyamandlovu aquifer.

Residents across the city have year in, year out mobilised their own resources and labour to patch potholes in their localities. In some cases, the council has been providing sand to fill up the potholes, but now that we are in the election season, all that becomes unlawful. The roads are in a bad state simply because the council has neglected them and prioritised other areas. Cowdray Park is the most populated area in Bulawayo yet it has very few social amenities and public infrastructure is bad. There are no good roads that link the new houses in the suburb to the rest of the city. There is no sewer system and water woes are a permanent phenomenon.

That is why residents have backed Prof Ncube in his development initiative to make the constituency a lot more habitable. In interviews with this publication last week, residents described Bulawayo councillors as selfish. Residents said the local authority had failed to develop the area despite having the mandate to do so.

"The constituency has a sitting Zanu-PF councillor Kidwell Mujuru. He is the one who helped Prof Ncube to identify some of the bad roads which are being rehabilitated. He was consulted on each and every development that is being done, so I do not know what these councillors are talking about.

Besides, what is really sad is that council couldn't bring any development to the area. Our roads began getting bad about 10 years ago but they had done nothing ever since. These councillors are failing residents. They were supposed to fix these roads long back. However, we are very happy with the development that we are seeing here," said Mr Hardlife Nkomo.

Another resident Miss Rumbidzai Chidoma said councillors failed to come up with ideas and solutions to develop Cowdray Park in their full council meetings, but only wanted to sabotage development.

"Cowdray Park is in dire need of development. There were areas where water would not come for six months and the council was doing nothing about it. People had to walk long distances because the roads were not accessible exposing them to various risks. These councillors are not from Cowdray Park hence they do not understand our plight. In the very same council meetings, they failed to come up with ideas on how they could improve and develop Cowdray Park. However, Professor Mthuli Ncube has done so much in a short space of time. As a resident, I view the development as something beyond politics," said Ms Chidoma.

What is clear is that Prof Ncube has set the pace and shown councillors what servant leadership is all about. No wonder they are now in sixes and sevens, as they are losing relevance in this crucial election period.