THINGS took an awry turn during the memorial wake of the late former councillor, Alderman Colin Stuart Lumsden at the Large City Hall on Wednesday when former councillors drifted away from the business of the day and diverted attention to the current state of affairs in the city.
Aldermen and former town clerks aired their grievances as if they were at a regular council meeting.
Former town clerk Moffat Ndlovu berated the state of the city, stating that people selling mealie cobs around the city at places such as Bulawayo Centre were now common sight.
“This recent practice of people roasting mealies on the streets is unheard of,” Ndlovu vented his disappointment.
He also complained about how ward 13 had been divided, with parts of it being moved to neighbouring Njube, Makhandeni and Magwegwe and wanted to know why this was happening.
A rather emotional sounding Alderman Bathandi Mpofu said looking at what the city had become today, as compared to its former days, he was disappointed and baffled at the same time.
“As I speak of the matter, I feel tears well up. There are people coming from outside the city who are making our Bulawayo dirty,” he said.
“There is not much that these councillors can do. They are much like orphans.”
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Mpofu also left attendees of the memorial stunned when he questioned whether the mayor, David Coltart, would be able to execute his duties and restore Bulawayo to its former glory.
He said the mayor, being white, should find the going easy.
Former deputy mayor Mlandu Ncube also raised the plight of councillors, raising that the work of a councillor is not a part-time job and that the notion that councillors depend on workshops to survive was “very true”.
“Believe me, there is nothing to steal here. Councillors need the help of the community if they are to do their work effectively,” he said.
