Newly-elected councillor for Bulawayo’s Ward 8, Edwin Ndlovu, says there is no time for the honeymoon as he has to hit the ground running in order to improve service delivery in the area.
Ward 8 covers Barbourfields suburb, Mzilikazi, Nguboyenja, Thorngrove Infill and Burombo Flats.
The ward became vacant following the death of Councillor Ronnia Mudara in 2020.
In Ward 8, Ndlovu who represented CCC won by 1356 votes, beating ZANU-PF’s Nomusa Loveness Ndlovu who got 481 votes while Tobias Nyambanje of the MDC Alliance polled 160 votes.
In an interview with CITE, Wednesday, Ndlovu said the victory is for residents of Ward 8.
“My victory is dedicated to the people of Ward 8 who worked very hard for us to achieve that victory and secondly there is no time now for honeymoon. I should get working as soon as possible, as soon as I take the oath of office and the induction, then definitely all systems go trying to improve the service delivery to the ward and also try to have some developmental activities taking place,” said Ndlovu.
He said the by-elections were peacefully conducted even though they were characterized by low voter turnout.
“The by-election was fine, very peaceful, people campaigned freely, the challenge was voter apathy. We expected more than 5000 people to vote in Ward 8. Unfortunately, few people voted; that is worrisome but nevertheless we are aware that if it is not general elections really people don’t come out in numbers to vote. People prefer to vote when there is a chance of a change of leadership at the top. So if they know that it is just by-elections for MPs and Councillors and it will not change anything at the top, some people tend to stay at home. But well it was a good by-election, very peaceful. We campaigned freely, we were mixing and mingling during our campaigns, there was no violence, no threats,” said Ndlovu.
He added that he was going to work tirelessly on improving the communication between residents and the municipality as part of the efforts of working together to improve issues of service delivery.
“During my campaigns, I promised them that I will improve the communication between the council and the residents. The residents should know what is happening and happening where for what reason and they should input that. Secondly, I promised that I shall improve service delivery, the issue of sewer, the issue of road maintenance, and water. I shall work hand in hand with the council officials to make sure people in Ward 8 get water, they get their refuse collected from their homes,” said Ndlovu.
Meanwhile, Ndlovu said he would also work towards creating a ward development committee to work toward promoting development within the ward.
He added that he would work with other councillors to ensure by-laws are user-friendly to residents at the same time not compromising service delivery.”
