Gweru Councillors welcome ZDDT community involvement
GWERU – During a recent visit to the Midlands Capital, ZDDT Field Correspondent, Lewis Jones, had an excellent opportunity to sound out local authority councillors and the Town Clerk, on their views about the Trust’s community restoration interventions in the city.
Comments that ensued from interviews conducted proved to be most revealing and can be sampled in the following paragraphs. The comment deal primarily with an initiative funded by GIZ cooperating with the German Government and titled Enhancing the Capacity of Local Authorities for Service Delivery.
Responding to a question about the impact of the Trust’s programmes in the city, Cllr. Enock Mukandi Chikweche, of Ward 5, Senga Township, remarked:
“They have given rise to unprecedentedly improved relations between councillors and residents and this is certainly true in the case of relevant developments in my ward. It is also apparent that your programmes have contributed towards alerting them about their responsibility as custodians of the consequences of the initiatives in which they participated.”
Commenting on the manner in which residents had initially received ZDDT’ Sebenzela/Shandira environmental clean-ups, self reliance, leadership and capacity building training programmes, together with the current greening campaign, Deputy mayor, Cllr. T. Demo, ward 8, Ascot, replied:
“At first people were wary because they suspected that there were political motives involved. However on discovering that this was not the case, they embraced the programmes with open enthusiasm.”
Cllr. Canaan Dzingiso, ward 13, Mkoba Village 13, expressed similar sentiments when he remarked:
“Of course we have experienced the usual uncertainties that accompany the introduction of new initiatives. However, on realising the benefits accruing from your programmes, councillors and the community gave their approval and willingly participated.”
In ward 4, which comprises a group of middle income suburbs to the south west of the city, Cllr. Kenneth Sithole expressed the need for the existence of good communication between the programmes’ implementers and communities. He said:
“In order to avoid common misconceptions, it is essential that there is good communication between you, councillors and residents. ZDDT has managed to do this here, with the result that people and the city as a whole now reap the benefits.”
Cllr. T. Makumbe, ward 16, Mkoba 18 and 20, simply remarked: “Your organisation is doing good work among the community. You need to make sure that this is sustainable.”
The city’s chief executive, Town Clerk, Daniel Matawu, in a similar vein to Cllr. Makumbe, preferred to keep his comment short yet most complimentary when he said: “Thank you very much for the excellent work you are doing with us.”
Is there need to say any more?