ZDDT Field Officers Carryout a Surveys
- Written by: Mandla Tshuma, ZDDT Field Correspondent
BULAWAYO – Five Zimbabwe Development Democracy Trust (ZDDT) field officers recently carried out surveys across Bulawayo’s 29 wards to establish, among other things, if residents really know and interact with their councillors.
The five are Vusumuzi Chirwa, Maria Lunga, Jacqueline Mutig, Ennie Mhangara and Pamela Mackay. Each ward received 10 questionnaires, bringing the total to 290.
Amongst other things, the respondents were asked if they knew both their former and current councillors and if they understood roles of councillors.
In the questionnaire, residents were asked which stakeholders they knew who work with the Bulawayo City Council in aspects of service delivery.
They were also asked about Community Action Team (CAT) members and their roles.
“For service delivery to be achievable, what do you think has to be done differently; what service would you rate as the biggest need in your ward; how would you rate the previous council in terms of development in your ward?” read some of the questions.
Field officers, who spoke to ZDDT News, said, despite few challenges, they enjoyed the exercise which is on-going as ZDDT’s evaluation department assesses the impact of the trust’s programme.
In Ward 1 the people, are used to the councillor, they know Councillor Mlandu Ncube,” said Pamela Mackay.
“In Ward 7 there is a new councillor, Councillor Shadreck Sibanda and residents seem to be happy about their councillor.
Jacqueline Mutig however said some residents were not keen on responding to questionnaires until she explained the purpose of the survey.
“Residents wanted to know what the survey was all about, was it political, was it personal and why did I want to know,” said Mutig.
“I then explained to them that it was just a survey in which we wanted to see whether they knew their councillors.
ZDDT work involves capacitating local leaders, of which councillors are part, and other features of the umbrella programme are being covered across the spectrum of activities aimed at improving the welfare of residents.