Cllr Doubt Ncube

Itai Muzondo

GWERU – In a notable tale of grace to grass, former MDC-T Gweru Urban MP and senior official in the MDC Alliance; Sessel Zvidzai’s gardener is now City of Gweru Ward 3 councillor.

Doubt Ncube, who is 35 years of age, took his oath of office alongside other councillors on Tuesday following his victory over five other candidates in the July 30 elections.

He told TellZim News that though his social status has improved, he will continue to serve as Zvidzai’s gardener.

“I met Zvidzai after I had just joined the party in 2002. He is like a father to me and has been pivotal in my steady growth in politics. I will not leave him unless he decides to wean me off,” said Ncube, who still stays in the cottage at Zvidzai’s Delisford home.

He said he was grateful to the opposition alliance for affording him a chance to rise through the ranks.

“I am happy with how the MDC Alliance has supported me until I got to this stage today. I am a person many people may not know but I have risen through the party ranks in a transparent manner.

“I joined MDC-T in 2002 as an ordinary member and in 2003 I was elected youth chairperson for Ward 3. It was in 2010 that I got elevated to be district deputy youth chairperson for the party’s main executive. Promotion came again in 2012 as I was made a district portfolio member; a position I still hold to this day,” Ncube said.

He said his experience was a clear testimony that limits only existed within one’s imagination and that with focus, humility and hard work, anything could be done.

“Positions are not for the elite, everyone has potential as long as they have a vision. Being elected from the grassroots gives me confidence that I will deliver. Those in power are there to serve the interests of the grassroots.

“Women, in particular, are fearful of contesting for decision-making positions and I think there must be a shift in focus. Of late, the youth have done much for themselves so women should do the same,” Ncube said.

Contacted for comment, Zvidzai was full of praise for his employee.

“People from the ward elected him through the capability he showed them. I am confident of his abilities, the ward believes in him as well and we wish him well. He has a lot of potential as a leader,” Zvidzai said.local

New City of Gweru mayor Josiah Makombe

Itai Muzondo

GWERU – Ward 2 councillor, Josiah Makombe on Tuesday emerged as new City of Gweru mayor following the swearing in ceremony for the new councillors at town house.

Makombe, who won the post uncontested, replaces Charles Chikozho and will work with Ward 5 councillor, Cleopas Shiri as his deputy.

Ward 13 councillor, Catherine Mhondiwa is the only female in the 18-member all MDC Alliance council.

Speaking to TellZim News, Makombe said he wished to make a difference in addressing traditional issues that have always plagued Gweru.

“I am not going to implement any new idea before solving the traditional problems that have always affected the city. My main goal is just to make sure that council delivers.

“The old problems I am talking about are roads, water woes, malfunctioning traffic lights and broken street lights. To solve this, I will always seek the advice of my predecessors and will encourage team work among councillors so that everything we agree on is beneficial to residents,” he said.

This publication also caught up with Shiri who said he wished to help council block revenue leakages that are hindering better service delivery.

“There are several leakages that I wish my fellow councillors to unite and close for the benefit of residents. These are mainly found in the billing system.

“Besides these, it is my wish that City of Gweru attracts foreign and local investment. Partnerships should be built with organisations that can help us to improve service delivery,” Shiri said.

Also present at the swearing-in ceremony was Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRA) chairperson, Cornelia Selipiwe who called for transparency and hard work from the new councillors.

“We hope these councilors will be there for the residents. We want to see fruitful debates in the chambers and we want to see resolutions coming to fruition. As residents, we no longer want a council that puts selfish interests ahead of the city’s common good,” Selipiwe said.local

Picture: The new Indian-made pumps that have since broken down

Moses Ziyambi

The water pumps that broke down on August 22, leading the ongoing severe water shortages in the city are only three years old, TellZim News can reveal.

The pumps were commissioned by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was then vice president, on Friday April 24, 2015 after the completion of upgrades at the Bushmead waterworks.

The upgrades, which also extended to the sewerage works in Eastvale as well as the Rujeko sewer pump station, were made possible through money raised by the Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund which was being managed by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The donors were wealthy Western countries that included Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Australia.

At the Rujeko sewer pump station, a massive generator was put in place to make sure that the system is never deprived of power even during load-shedding, thereby ensuring that no untreated effluent flowed into Mucheke River at any given time.

People were also told that efficiency had also been improved at the sewerage works through upgrades and capacity expansion.

At Bushmead, two brand new Indian-made pumps were installed to replace the old Rhodesian pumps that were reportedly put in place way back in 1967, meaning the old pumps had served the city for 48 good years.

A whole new Indian-built electrical system was also installed to power the ‘better’ pumps that had just been installed.

On the day of the commissioning of the new upgraded systems, City of Masvingo engineer Tawanda Gozo led the tour of Bushmead, telling Mnangagwa and his delegation of ministers that the water situation in the city was never going to be the same again.

He said a third reserve pump had also been installed at the intake tower for use only in emergency situations.

It is against this background that many people were outraged to learn that what they had hoped to be a long-term improvement of the water situation in the city was somehow a farce.

Outgoing City of Masvingo town clerk, Adolf Gusha communicated last week that the new pumps had broken down unexpectedly, hinting that the equipment was substandard.

“The broken down pumps are fairly new; less than five years against a design lifespan of 20 years. At the moment, we are focusing on repairs. Getting a new one will take much longer. It’s an option on the horizon. A new pump could cost anything north of $300 000,” Gusha said.local

Moses Ziyambi

Newly-elected Bulawayo MDC Alliance Ward 24 councillor, Arnold Batirai Dube has claimed that he was threatened by members of the secessionist Mthakazi groupings soon after being sworn in as councillor last week.

He however said he would not be moved by ‘the shenanigans of people who did not vote for me’, but would instead focus to effectively represent the people of Nketa who elected him.

Dube triggered a commotion in council chambers when he recited his oath of office in Shona, in front of an audience presumed to have been predominantly Ndebele.

Videos of the squabbles, in which Dube could be seen citing the country’s 16 official languages to defend his conduct against hordes of agitated activists, were widely circulated on social media.

“I am not at all moved. Those are not the people who voted for me so my focus now is to work for the people of Nketa who chose me to represent them in council,” said Dube, who originally hails from Masvingo South.

He said the incident was staged and blown out of proportion by Gideon Mangena, a fellow MDC Alliance candidate whom he defeated in the July 30 elections. Serious intra-MDC Alliance disagreements in the ward saw the opposition coalition fielding two candidates to contest for the council seat.

“What happened is that Mangena had hoped that I was not going to be sworn in before the conclusion of the two spurious criminal cases he laid against me before the elections. When he heard that I had been invited to the swearing in ceremony at the very last minute, he hired the Mthwakazi guys who booed me and made distasteful tribal remarks as I entered the gallery. They had planned it in advance but I stood my ground.

“After the event, they accosted me outside and threatened to kill me. They even told me the day they would kill me, claiming that they knew I and some councillors wanted to vote for a Shona mayor,” said Dube.

The 32-year-old councillor, who is the Tendai Biti-led People’s Democratic Party (PDP) youth leader, contested for the ward despite the alliance having endorsed Mangena – who belongs to Welshman Ncube’s MDC – four days before election day.

He won by 2 237 against Mangena’s 2 104 and Zanu PF’s Justice Bango who scored 1 752. The other eight candidates scored just below 200 votes each on average.

Dube went to Shonganiso Primary School before proceeding to Berejena Mission for his secondary education. He did his ‘A’ levels at Masvingo Christion College and is currently studying for a marketing degree with a South African institution.politics