One On One with Cllr Rafamoyo

  • Written by: Mandla Tshuma, ZDDT Field Correspondent

Bulawayo Councillor Rafamoyo

Councillor Earnest Rafamoyo (ER), Ward 20, Bulawayo covering Nkulumane 1, Nkulumane 12 and Phekiwe, is one of the city fathers who have acknowledged deriving value from ZDDT’s Zone Meetings, which enable them to meet with their Community Action Team members to discuss developmental issues in their community.

Cllr Rafamoyo briefly spoke to ZDDT’s news correspondent, Mandla Tshuma (MT), on the significance of such meetings and his understanding of servant leadership and democracy at a local level. This was after the Zone Four meeting held in Nkulumane recently.

MT: To begin with, Cllr Rafamoyo, how important are these ZDDT Zone Meetings to you as a community leader?

ER: They are very important because they open some of the corners which one might not have gotten to. For example, the CATs might be meeting residents in my absence and then they come and report those issues in those meetings and also sharing ideas on how we can best develop and best communicate with the community itself. These meetings therefore are a very important necessity indeed.

MT: Considering that three wards are represented here in Zone Four, of what importance is this?

ER: Situations are not the same in these three wards in that some challenges, which other wards might be facing, could have been solved in another ward, so we will be having answers and solutions from other wards and we will also be learning from other wards on how they tackle their problems and the way forward.

MT: Cllr Rafamoyo, what is your understanding of servant leadership as someone who leads people?

ER: My understanding of servant leadership is that of someone who listens to the people he or she will be leading, doing exactly what they want him or her to do and not what one wants to do. That is the servant leader. You are always the doormat where people need their houses to be clean.

MT: Thank you for that Cllr. Elective representation begins at council level. What is your understanding of democracy at local level?

ER: My understanding of democracy is that people sit and elect someone who they want to be their leader. That is my understanding and it is really a process in which everyone can express their feelings without force but willingly.

MT: I would also like to find out from you how important is democracy at a local level again?

ER: It is very important. That’s where people can express how best they have been looking at someone, how best they have really been considered or how best their issues have been addressed by that leader that they want to elect and also how best they would be represented at whatever level.

MT: Thank very much Cllr for your time. I wish you well in 2017 as you continue to represent your ward in Council.

ER: Thank you.