Polls Are Over, But Byo Residents Still Battle With Mayoral Appointments

Polls are over, but Bulawayo residents still battle with mayoral appointments.

BULAWAYO: Mbongeni Ndlovu (20), a Bulawayo resident, is one of the dozens of first time voters who turned up to cast a ballot on July 30 — the country’s first polls without ex-despot Robert Mugabe.

But like many, Ndlovu did not know the Council and House of Assembly candidates for his ward and constituency respectively. The only credential he knew of for his candidate of choice was the name of his political party — the MDC Alliance. 

“Even up to date, approximately fourteen days after the polls, I still don’t know any of my Council and MP candidates,” Ndlovu said in a recent interview with The Citizen Bulletin.

“You can ask anyone around. Most residents voted for the party not individuals, as such most of us do not know Council candidates who won,” he added.

While many residents voted, most of them did not know that they had accidentally voted for their next mayor. The issue has already stirred the hornet’s nest with some pro-Mthwakazi pundits vowing that the local authority will not have a mayor who does not originate from the city.

According to the country’s Constitution and the Local Authorities Act, mayors for the country’s cities must be drawn from elected Councillors.

Ironically, most residents seem not to know that by voting for their preferred council candidates, they are inevitably electing their prospective mayors.

"Honestly, l don’t know how a mayor is elected, a resident who identified herself only as maNcube told this publication during random interviews with the city’s residents recently.

“I don’t even know how the mayor's position helps me," she said adding that as such she did not consider the mayor’s position prior to casting her vote on July 30.

However, some residents seemed to suggest that the mayor must be someone who understands the city well.

"Definitely the mayor should be someone who knows Bulawayo," an elderly lady who refused to be named for fear of retribution said.

"The rightful mayor must be aware of each and every corner of the city, be mature and at least be older not these young people born in the 1970s,” she added.

Khawuleza Nsingo, another resident who spoke to The Citizen Bulletin, suggested that the mayor must be conversant in isiNdebele, Zimbabwe’s official language predominantly spoken in the city.

"The most important thing is the person should be a resident of Bulawayo fluent in IsiNdebele,” Nsingo said.

He added: "Whosoever will be appointed mayor must be at least 50 years old or so. Older people understand the city’s needs better and have lived enough to learn from their mistakes.”

But Thobekile Ndlovu, another resident believes that the mayor’s job must be assumed by a young person.

“They (young people) are educated and innovative,” she said. “They will bring the necessary energy and ideas to drive the city forward.”

Last week, a pressure group, Ibhetshu Likazulu, organized a meeting to deliberate on the contentious issue of the selection of the mayor and their deputy ostensibly to rally bona fide Bulawayo residents to lobby the MDC Alliance — in whose power the mayoral appointments lies — to appoint a mayor who will be embraced by locals. — Editing by Julia Thomas/Divine Dube