Fredrick Moyo
Three candidates are vying for the sole ticket for Masvingo Urban ward 3 councillorship in the March 26 by-elections after successfully filing their nomination papers in January.
CCC will be represented by Roki Kamuzonda, with former councillor for the area Tarusenga Vembo representing MDC-Alliance that ‘mistakenly’ recalled him while Zanu-PF will be represented by Taurai Mudzviti.
Taurai Mudzviti – ZANU PF
Mudzviti popularly known as Bucho said he was born and bred in ward 3. He said this is not the first time he has contested as he once did so in Zanu-PF 2018 primary elections though he lost to the other contender.
“I was born and bred in ward 3 which I am representing in the upcoming by-elections and I have been in constant touch with that ward. I was born in ZANU PF and I have been rising through the ranks and in 2018 I participated in the primary elections which I lost to Allan Sibanda.
“As a person who was born in ward 3, I go back and check if my brothers and sisters or even the elders are having any challenges and help them,” said Mudzviti.
He added that he has programmes that he put in place in the ward and is promising to do more if he is elected.
“I have programmes that I have put in place in ward 3 like sponsoring Mucheke social league meant to keep people busy and out of harmful substances like drugs. I have also been involved in rehabilitation of some boreholes so that people have clean water.
“The other challenge is that children in ward 3 are walking long distances to the nearest secondary school, so we want to push council to allocate land for us so we build a school in that area and I am happy with the issue of the clinic so what we want to get in there and push for people in the ward to be employed there and council should allocate us a place where we can build a market place so that people sell their products without fear of being arrested,” said Mudzviti.
He urged the electorate to vote for him as other councillors came in and did not do any development in the ward.
“My message to the electorate is very simple; there are councillors who have been coming and going without any development in the ward and most of them are taking advantage of the electorate when they forget to represent the people who voted for them,” said Mudzviti.
Tarusenga Vembo – MDC A
Vembo said he was born and raised in Gutu under Chief Makore and started politics in 2016 and later in 2018, he was elected ward 3 councillor. He said he joined politics because he wanted change in Zimbabwe.
“I believe that I will still be the councillor because l know my community still needs me and have been doing good work for them since 2018,” said Vembo.
He added that he cannot judge himself saying he is the best candidate for this post, but the community can judge since they are the ones who see if he had been the best candidate since 2018.
“I cannot say I am the best, for the community is there to judge I cannot judge myself. I have been their councillor since 2018 so the community knows if I am the best for them or not or if they need me to continue or not,” added Vembo.
He said getting into office will give him a chance to further push for the development of his community since Ward 3 was known for its backwardness as compared to other Masvingo urban wards.
“Ward 3 had about three or four councillors from MDC Alliance before me but they did not manage to develop the community well. When I was elected, I managed to build a clinic, maintained the drainage system, built shops and spearheaded road maintenance works.
“My only wish is that if I get this post again, I want to finish what I started because of my great ideas of developing because it was a backward ward as compared to other Masvingo urban wards,” said Vembo.
Roki Kamuzonda – CCC
Kamuzonda said residents in ward 3 are the ones who selected him to be their representative because they saw what he was doing in the ward before he was even a candidate.
“People selected me to be their representative in the upcoming by-elections because they saw the works that I performed way beforeI was even a candidate because I would help or assist anyone who needs my help,” said Kamuzonda.
He added that he thinks that he is the ideal candidate because he stays in the ward and knows challenges people in ward 3 are facing.
“I think I am the best candidate because I stay in ward 3 and I know each and every corner in there including the challenges people are facing. I also visit marginalized people in my ward and assist them with whatever I have,” said Kamuzonda.
He said that there are some projects that he did before he even thought of becoming a councillor and will also push for other projects when elected.
“There are some projects which I pushed before I even thought of becoming a councillor that include a playing ground for children, a car park and also help whenever ward 3 people face water challenges. I used my personal car to go and collect water tanks so that ward 3 people have clean water.
“When elected I will also push all the projects that I promised people when campaigning that include constructing a footbridge and also road rehabilitations and addressing water challenges,” said Kamuzonda.
