RESIDENTS representatives have said most councillors in their respective local authorities do not deserve to be re-elected in this year’s polls.
Most local authorities have been failing to provide service delivery, while some councillors have been implicated in corrupt deals.
Speaking to NewsDay yesterday, Harare Residents Trust director Precious Shumba said: “The majority of the sitting councillors do not deserve to be re-elected into office. They have been involved in massive land sale corruption, have manipulated council decision-making processes for their personal benefit, and councils have failed to include residents in budget formulation.”
He said the problem is that residents vote for whoever their party seconds to represent them in.
“This is a huge tragedy of Zimbabwe's politics. Despite these dynamics, residents must think more about service delivery and the capacity of the individuals, not necessarily the political party. Residents must vote for the track record, level of education, experience and knowledge about implementation of local government legislation and focus on transforming the performance of local authorities.”
Chitungwiza Residents Trust director, Alice Kuvheya said only three councillors deserve re-election out of 25 wards.
“The rest did nothing for their respective wards and council at large. This time around we are expecting councillors who deliver. We would examine their capabilities to deliver before we cast our votes. We need politicians who promise what they fulfil,” she said.
A Chinhoyi resident said: “If the current brains in urban councils fail just like their predecessors, it's high time we vote for new brains.”
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In an article titled: Development of a Resident Manifesto, Marondera Residents Open Forum director Tapiwa Chengeta stressed the need for aspiring candidates to coin campaign messages that speak to service delivery issues.
“That election period has come now. Perennial liars have come to crook the people with the same skills they used five years ago. Most painful and deceiving are the out of context promises which have become a song over time,” Chengeta said.
“Who told you that this is what these residents need? You bring a lot of promises, but who told you that they are in need of such things. In the end, residents vote on the basis of promises totally not in tandem with their needs. The residents manifesto concept thus becomes the best way to come up with a campaign manifesto. When residents within a ward have come up with their needs which form the manifesto, they then assess candidates on the basis of potential capacity to perform.”
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