Service delivery is at the top of the agenda for Masvingo’s Ward 7 aspiring candidates in the March 26 by-elections.
The ward fell vacant after the then-councillor Richard Musekiwa was recalled by the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC-T.
Musekiwa is seeking to reclaim his position but will have to battle with Prosper Dohwai of ZANU-PF, Gertrude Chuma of the MDC-Alliance, and Everjoy Chidindi of the Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD).
In an interview with CITE, Musekiwa who is representing the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) said the campaigns are going on well despite financial challenges.
“We are working on a zero budget as a party, it doesn’t have money, you have to fundraise from your own pocket or from the well-wishers and there is also a challenge of the cost of material,” he said.
Meanwhile, MDC-Alliance aspiring candidate Gertrude Chuma said she started her door-to-door campaign on Monday and the people have been receiving her well.
Chuma said when elected she will deal with the road infrastructure and networks.
“In my 27 years old and a resident of Rujeko. I have seen a lot that needs to be fixed. The first thing is that we have serious traffic congestion in the morning every day as we are going to work this is due to the fact that Rujeko is using one main road wich connects Masvingo and Beitbridge and residents have a tough time accessing the city centre,” she said.
“If I am elected, I would want to ensure that there is a direct road from Rujeko to Town. The road used to be there but it collapsed it’s no longer usable.”
Chuma said the side roads in ward 7 are now in a dilapidated state, “for example the roads in Rujeko C are now in a poor state.”
“The second thing I will ensure the availability of medication for children below the ages of 5 at our local clinic, we have seen that when children are sick most parents don’t usually get the medication at our clinic, this is not supposed to be the situation as each clinic has its own allocation of drugs,” she said.
“We also want to construct a library for the benefit of our children for them to avoid going to town because this is where we have a challenge of criminals attacking them as they walk back home from town at night.”
ZANU- PF aspiring candidate Prosper Dohwai said the campaigns are going on well.
