Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) leader, Mqondisi Moyo has hit out at both central government and the Bulawayo City Council for allegedly offering poor service delivery to residents of the country’s second largest city.
Bulawayo is facing serious water problems as most residents receive water once a week.
Last year, over a dozen people in the city’s Luveve high density suburb lost their lives after drinking water suspected to be carrying water borne diseases.
Residents have now lost confidence in the safety of the city’s water for drinking with some buying mineral water while those who cannot afford to purchase it have adopted to boiling tap water before drinking it.
Last week Wednesday, the local authority’s employees downed tools citing incapacitation while demanding a salary of ZWL$20 000.
In an interview, Moyo blamed government for failure to prioritise the long planned Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project.
“The issue of water shortages is due to failure by the government of Zimbabwe to prioritise Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project, which was to be the permanent solution to the water woes of Bulawayo and Mthwakazi at large,” Moyo said.
“The other factors contributing to the water crisis in Bulawayo are due to lack of the government prioritising the building of new dams to supplement Lower and Upper Ncema, Mzingwane and Inyankuni.
“All these four dams were built by the Ian Douglas Smith government before Independence and the Zanu PF government has failed to build the dams around Bulawayo, but it has built dams like Tokwe Mukosi in Mashonaland.
“New suburbs have been built in Bulawayo but no increase in dams, and the available dams are now affected by siltation and their capacity to be full is no longer hundred percent due to siltation.”
Moyo also blasted Bulawayo councillors dominated by the Nelson Chamisa led MDC Alliance party.
He said Chamisa and his party share some blame for allegedly making the city lose its status of being one of the tidiest in the region.
This comes after locals have been complaining over litter which is dumped everywhere, notably in the city’s busy market along 5th Avenue and Jason Moyo Street.
“Bulawayo has gone to the dogs. We no longer have city fathers, but we now have clueless councillors considering that MDC led by Nelson Chamisa gave Bulawayo about 17 Shona councillors and a Shona deputy mayor after the 31st July 2018 elections.
“The issue of garbage at the market is due to the influx of people from Harare who have a tendency of lack of cleanliness.
“Remember, Bulawayo used to be the best run city in Zimbabwe and probably in Africa at large but it’s now amongst the dirtiest of cities matching Harare,” he said.
Credit: New Zimbabwe