Residents in Bulawayo’s Lobengula West suburb are angry at their councillor whom they accuse of being away without official leave (Awol) since July 31 last year when they elected him into power.
Ward 14 residents said they feel like “orphans” since their council representative, Macdonald Chunga is nowhere to be seen.
Speaking during a community dialogue meeting in the suburb at the weekend, the irate residents said they have never met Chunga ever since he was elected as councillor during last year’s Harmonised polls.
“We have a lot of problems in this suburb pertaining to service delivery but sadly the servant we entrusted to represent us in these matters has never been seen here,” said a resident Ellen Dube.
She said the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has not been collecting refuse consistently and such complaints would not be actioned since such reports do no get to council.
Another resident, Kelvin Lunga said Chunga has never convened a residents’ meeting since he assumed his role as Lobengula West councillor.
“He never meets the people, he does not call for meetings and we always wonder how he intends to work with us on community issues,” said Lunga.
He said repeated efforts to engage him on service delivery issues have been futile for well over a year since Chunga was installed as Ward 14 councillor.
“I think Chunga should differentiate from politics and community developmental issues. We do not know what to do to get the councillor working,” said Lunga.
The residents say they are not being represented in council, as their resentative is “missing in action.”
“We are appealing to the powers that be to intervene and save the situation because I don’t think the people of this suburb are going to wait for four years to get another council representative,” said another resident Khumbulani Dube.
He said they will not tire in calling for Chunga to fulfil his council obligations because they are desperate for representation.
Contacted for comment, Chunga said he has been in touch with his “residents.”
“I don’t know where such allegations that I have never convened meetings in the ward are coming from. I have held meetings and if you check the registers, you will see that I have the highest participants in the country,” said Chunga.
He said some residents were bent on sabotaging his council career and he will “look for those culprits.”
Chunga said he is a hard worker and is committed to work for ward 14 residents.
The city council’s public relations could not immediately respond on remedies proposed in the event that a councillor is found to be neglecting his/her duties.
Source: Radio Dialogue
