JB Sibanda lashes at BCC

TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO 

The ZANU-PF Bulawayo Provincial chairman, Jabulani Sibanda, has lashed out at the Bulawayo City Council management and councillors for grabbing several infrastructure facilities depriving residents.

Sibanda, who spoke at the governing party’s by-election campaign launch  last Friday said  the councillors and management  are now in control of infrastructure facilities such as beer halls, car parks, among others.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has proclaimed March 26,2022 as the date for parliamentary and council  by-elections to fill seats that were left vacant through deaths and recalling of  legislators by mainly  opposition MDC-T led by Douglas Mwonzora.

Sibanda said residents in the city were no longer benefitting from the infrastructure meant to benefit them.

“…The councillors have shared amongst themselves together with the Bulawayo City Council management beerhalls in the city. They have taken over the car parks and personalised them. The residents are the ones that should use them and benefit from them. They are making money using this infrastructure,” he said.

Critics say the local authorities have been crippled by government’s interference.

Sibanda  also said ZANU-PF is pushing for resuscitation of factories in the city.

“Our factories are closed. We are grateful that  we have a minister like Mthuli Ncube (the Minister of Finance and Economic Development)  who is a member of the (Bulawayo Province) executive in the party. We have discussed with him our grievances on these factories.  We are looking forward to him assisting on this,” Sibanda said.

ZANU-PF’s second secretary, Kembo Mohadi,  who also spoke at the event, said Bulawayo residents should vote for the party.

“ZANU-PF is a party with a vision for the people of Zimbabwe. We are guided by Vision 2030 which captures the aspirations of our people for development. It is hoped that by the end of that period, Zimbabwe would have achieved an upper middle-income economy,” Mohadi said.

“The National Development Strategy 1 sets out specific steps to be taken in our journey towards our vision and this vision is not only for Zanu-PF, but for every Zimbabwean.

The Zimbabwe Election Commission has established 2 713 mobile voter registration centres countrywide as it seeks to make its services accessible to every citizen.

The voter registration exercise will determine the number of constituencies each province will have when ZEC conducts the delimitation exercise ahead of the 2023 harmonised elections.

The delimitation exercise will be conducted in August this year.

Mohadi urged members of the public from Matabeleland region to register as voters as Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South have the least number of registered voters