Sikhumbuzo Moyo and Patrick Chitumba, Chronicle Writers
BULAWAYO and Gweru residents have accused Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) councillors of creating unnecessary chaos in the two municipalities by boycotting crucial meetings and deliberately seeking to frustrate council processes and service delivery for cheap political gains.
Taking instructions from their beleaguered leader, Mr Nelson Chamisa, CCC councillors in both cities have not been attending council meetings recently much to the displeasure of residents.
This week the councillors in Bulawayo snubbed crucial thematic committee meetings including a tour by the African Development Bank, which has financed critical council projects including the US$24 million Bulawayo Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project.
Due to this chaos, senior council management staff also reportedly did not attend Wednesday’s tour of Criterion water works where the Government was represented by the Bulawayo Provincial Permanent Secretary, Mr Paul Nyoni.
Residents immediately took a swipe at the councillors’ decision to boycott the meetings, describing the move as sad and disappointing.
According to Bulawayo council’s schedule of meetings for the week ending October 21, the first meeting was for the Environmental Management and Engineering Services, which was scheduled for Monday while the second was for the Town Lands and Planning Committee, which ought to have been held on Tuesday. Two meetings were scheduled for Wednesday, the first was for the sub-committee on Allocation of Stands and Premises for Development with the Business and Investment committee meeting coming soon after. The Special General-Purpose meeting was supposed to have been held yesterday.
Bulawayo Mayor, Councillor David Coltart, confirmed the boycott saying this was in conformity with a directive from the CCC leader, Mr Chamisa’s call for elected party national assembly and local council representatives to disengage from both Parliament and council duties. He said all committee meetings have been iced until October 26 in protest over the recent recalls of their Parliamentary and council representatives across the country.
Cllr Coltart, however, said the council has not totally shunned AfDB activities saying he met the financial institution’s representatives.
“All committee meetings have been postponed until after the 26th of October. The CCC called for a two-week disengagement from formal Parliament and council meetings,” said Cllr Coltart.
He also denied that by meeting with the AfDB executives, he was in fact defying his leader’s total boycott calls.
“There is no conflict, our meetings with third parties including citizens and entities, which will help the running of the council going forward are entirely logical.
“We have not shunned the AfDB. I met with them on Tuesday and have another meeting with Mr N’Guessan and Mr Bertachini of the AfDB this afternoon (yesterday). The agenda is to discuss future projects, which I have already outlined to them,” said Cllr Coltart.
Bulawayo United Residents Association (Bura) chairperson, Mr Winos Dube, said residents were shocked by the behaviour of CCC councillors.
“We expect councillors to be on duty and give us the best of services but now to have the same councillors boycotting is really disappointing,” he blasted.
“They are now pursuing their partisan party politics at the expense of the electorate and the city. We are really saddened and asking ourselves if these people are taking us seriously or not.
“Before boycotting, did they come back to us who voted into office to get our view on all this or they are now getting instructions from outside forces?
“They haven’t reported anything to us. That is a very sad and unfortunate situation, a huge setback indeed,” said Mr Dube.
In Gweru, CCC councillors have also been boycotting council meetings much to the displeasure of residents.
For two weeks now, the councillors have been missing in action and have not attended the scheduled committee meetings such as the Health and Housing, Environment, Finance, Human Resources, and General Purpose and Business Development meetings, said a source from management.
Councillors who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity said they were just following a directive from their party.
“We want to attend the meetings but because of the parry directive, we are forbidden from attending. We are caught between and rock and hard surface,” said one councillor.
Gweru District Development Co-ordinator Mr Tarisai Mudadigwa said he had spoken to the Mayor, Clr Martin Chivhoko, who had assured him that they will be conducting council business soon.
Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association director Mr Cornelius Selipiwe also expressed his disdain for cheap politicking by the CCC.
“The situation obtaining on the ground is that the councillors are not working, they have disengaged from council business, not attending any full council meetings and this has raised concerns among us residents,” he said.
“If they are not there when budget consultations are starting, it means we will just have input from management.”
Mr Selipiwe said already, management has indicated that they will be sending questionnaires for residents to put their input as part of 2024 budget consultations.
How can they send a questionnaire and assume that residents have data to download and then upload when they have filled it? These CCC councillors have really let us down,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bulawayo City councillors are expected to elect a new deputy mayor today following the recall of Mr Donaldson Mabuto who was recently recalled. The city has 38 councillors inclusive of proportional representation, and with the recalled councillors, 26 now remain.
The other recalled councillors are Shepherd Sithole (Ward 1), Nkosinathi Hove-Mpofu (Ward 6), Takunda Felix Madzana (Ward 18), Simbarashe Dube (Ward 20), Tinevimbo Maphosa (Ward 21), Thobweka Mmeli (Ward 22), Arnold Batirai (Ward 24), Sarah Cronje, Mhizha Tabeth, Sibanda Dorcas and Zibusiso Tshongwe (all proportional representation).
The recalls were confirmed by the Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Winston Chitando in a letter to the town clerk, Mr Christopher Dube on Wednesday in which he advised him to inform the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission that vacancies have since arisen in council chambers.
