MDC-T blocks industry revival initiative Saturday, 26 October 2013 23:08 2 Comments Councillor Martin Moyo Vusumuzi Dube Municipal Reporter THE MDC-T has reportedly blocked efforts by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) to revive industry in the city by insisting the local authority consults the party before passing any major decisions. Bulawayo councillors were in the process of developing incentives to be offered to industry in the city, in a bid to attract investors to the sector. In the latest revelations, the estranged party has reportedly ordered its councillors to continuously seek guidance from the provincial leadership and desist from making any decision without their consent, a move that has been criticised by both Government and residents. According to impeccable council sources, the local authority was supposed to unveil incentives to attract investors to help revitalise the ailing industrial sector. However, this hit a snag as the MDC-T provincial leadership insisted that they had to be consulted first before the incentives could be implemented. “We were supposed to announce these new incentives but the party insists they want to have a look at them first and further insist on a joint press conference so they get the credit for this. “In actual fact, the party has insisted on a hands-on approach on all council affairs, such that we literally don’t have the power to make any decision without having to consult them,” said the source. The city’s mayor, Councillor Martin Moyo, however, said the party had every right to intervene in council affairs, as they also had the interests of the city at heart. “I would not say it’s interfering but rather the party has a genuine interest in the city’s policies, thus they will be simply inputting, which I think is not wrong at all. If they come up with a brilliant idea we will naturally endorse it because it will have the interests of the city in mind. “What you should realise is that even before we began our tenure as councillors, some of these issues were brainstormed within the party, so at the end of the day some of these policies are originally party issues,” said Clr Moyo. Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo lashed out at the councillors saying when they were elected into office they ceased serving party interests but became servants of the entire municipality regardless of political inclination. He said the move by the party was tantamount to interfering with council business, which to an extent could cause confusion in the whole system. “There is only one Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing and I am the minister responsible. I don’t see how the MDC-T can say they have the final say in any council policy, who are they anyway? “If I were them, I would leave these councillors do what they were elected to do. Maybe it is because they are admitting that some of their councillors are corrupt but then the question becomes how did they allow these corrupt individuals to contest the elections at the end of the day,” said Dr Chombo. He said his ministry would not stop keeping a tight grip on all councils as it tried to promote service delivery in all the councils. “In the last term it was unfortunate that most of these MDC-T-run councils were doing as they pleased. We had increased cases of corruption and misappropriation of funds. This time around, we will work round the clock keeping a hawk’s eye on them and anyone who goes against the basics of service delivery, we will not hesitate but to get rid of them,” said the minister. Industry and Commerce Minister Cde Mike Bimha said the provision of incentives to attract investors in Bulawayo was one of the many ways the sector could be revived, hence it was mind boggling that anyone could block this. “The revival of the city’s industrial sectors is obviously a major priority. Such incentives are obviously a step in the right direction. Therefore, as a ministry we will encourage them to go ahead with this as we need to see the city being the country’s industrial hub once again,” said Cde Bimha. MDC-T national spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora said it was their duty as a party to ensure that all councils that were under their jurisdiction were run in the best possible manner. “All we are saying is that our councils should be a case study for every Zimbabwean to see for themselves how we intend to run issues; we are not interfering at all but we are merely directing our councillors on how best to run their respective councils,” said Mr Mwonzora. Bulawayo United Residents Association (BURA) chairperson Mr Winos Dube said it was unfortunate that the MDC-T leadership wanted to assume a controlling role over the council, which he said was unfortunate as there was already a Government ministry with this mandate. “This is really surprising because as a nation we already have a Government in place, which also appointed a minister responsible for councils. These councillors and their party cannot try to be different from all other councils and work outside Government. What they should realise is that they are no longer MDC-T councillors but are now Bulawayo councillors. “Right now we are talking of incentives to revive the city’s industries, we really cannot accept their continued interference,” said Mr Dube. Previously, the MDC-T leadership has interfered and caused confusion in a number of issues including a council resolution to award the late Vice President Cde John Landa Nkomo the Freedom of the City honour, a move that was reportedly blocked by the party’s vice president Ms Thokozani Khupe, who had then insisted that the honour be awarded to herself and the party’s president, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 06:52:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015