THE Bulawayo City Council has sworn in Zanu-PF Cowdray Park councillor Kidwell Mujuru enabling him to assume his council duties.
Mujuru was on March 30 elected Ward 28 councillor in a by-election to replace the late MDC councillor Hapson Ncube who died in December last year.
His victory makes him the first Zanu-PF candidate to win a local government election in Bulawayo since the MDC was formed in 1999. Ironically, Mujuru was a founding member of the MDC at that time. He defected to join ZANU PF in 2013 after complaining of tribal discrimination in the MDC Bulawayo structures.
He took his oath of office on Wednesday afternoon in the presence Town Clerk Mr Christopher Dube, Chamber Secretary Mrs Sikhangele Zhou and the city’s Mayor Clr Solomon Mguni.
In an interview after being sworn in, Mujuru said it was time to address problems affecting Ward 28 residents, the biggest ward in the province.
“Cowdray Park Ward 28 is a troubled place; most of the roads in the area are in a deplorable state, actually in some of the areas there are no roads to talk about. I say this in reference to new stands or Hlalani Kuhle/Garikai area. Some people have to walk 2km to get transport so I think it’s an area that needs urgent attention,” he said.
“We need to deliver on the election promises as the party promised during elections. There is a lot of work to be done. I will also push for the completion of some projects that the previous councillor had initiated.”
Mujuru said he would widely consult residents before initiating development projects and was ready to work with opposition party councillors to spearhead developmental projects in the city and his ward.
“I know it’s not going to be an easy job working with councillors from the opposition. Even during the swearing in ceremony some of them were not welcoming. But as times goes they will get used to the fact that that I’m one of them because we have a similar responsibility of developing Bulawayo. We should be mature enough to put our political differences aside and work to develop the city,” he said.
State Media\ZimEye.com