Own Correspondent|Residents of Ward 1 Gwanda Municipality are up in arms against the opposition councillor for the area who they claim not to be able to read and right.
According to the residents who approached the Daily News newspaper, councillor Mkhululi Chuma who was elected in the last elections had to relinquish chairing a council committee because of his academic challenges.
The opposition party which dominates the council had to lose the committee chair to a ZANU PF councillor Thulani Moyo.
The residents further complained that the councillor concerned resides in the MDC offices where he is working as the party security officer making it difficult for them to access the councillor at his residence if they have any issues affecting them.
Contacted for a comment by the media, Gwanda Town Mayor Jastine Mazhali dismissed the concerns of the residents on the academic challenges faced by the councillor claiming that the residents would not have raised the kind of complaint.
“I doubt that the residents may have raised that concern,” said Mazhali. “The complaint may have come from sources within the ward who are bent on discrediting the council.”
Mazhali however confirmed that Councillor Chuma was excused from chairing the committee claiming that the council did it deliberately in a bid “to balance up council” with the ruling ZANU PF.
“When we come together in council we forego our political affiliations and focus at developing the town which led us to agreeing with the ZANU PF councillors to balance up the chairing of council committees which then led the MDC to relinquish the Environmental Committee to ZANU PF,” he said.
The MDC which has a majority in council was chairing all the key council committees except the Audit Committee before relinquishing the Environmental Committee to the ruling party in an extremely rare arrangement.
Contacted for a comment, the Spokesperson for the Gwanda Residents Association Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo said that the Association was not a position to decide on the academic or otherwise credentials of a councillor but would be more concerned with the efficiency of the councillor in delivering service to residents.
Fuzwayo further blamed political parties for not exercising due diligence when choosing the candidates to second to the electorate. He also blamed the electorate for equally not considering the candidates provided but just voting for political parties without paying regard on the calibre of the candidate presented.
“The problem is with the political parties themselves as they are the ones who have to choose carefully who they put forward as candidates,” he said.
“It will be very unfortunate if the allegations against Chuma are true as the Urban Councils Act recommends that a councillor should at least be able to read and write. We will follow up the concern and take it up from there. ” he added.
Fuzwayo confirmed that the Residents Association had indeed received complaints from residents about the councillor’s residing at the opposition party offices indicating that the Association will be tabling the concern with the political party to move the councillor.
“We have to stand with the residents on this matter and we will definitely ask the MDC to urgently find alternative accomodation for the councillor,” he said.
Efforts to get a comment from the MDC leadership in the town were not successful at the time of writing.