"Mnangagwa's First-born-mayor" Pledges To Make Gwanda A Smart City
The Mayor of Gwanda, Councillor Thulani Moyo says he is President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s first-born-mayor after the August 23 and 24 Harmonised Elections.
Thirty-three out of the thirty-four urban councils in Zimbabwe are led by CCC and Gwanda Municipality is the only urban local authority with a ZANU PF mayor.
Speaking in an interview with the Southern Eye on Wednesday, Moyo said he won due to his hard work over the past ten years. He said:
I am His Excellency ED Mnangagwa’s first born mayor and I am pleased with that. I feel very honoured and I am looking forward to getting a cake for this.
This did not come for free. I worked for it for the past 10 years in which I have been a good leader who cares, listens, is hands-on and has people at heart. This earned me this position.
Moyo said his vision for Gwanda dovetail with the National Development Strategy 1 and he wants the town to become a clean and smart city by 2030.
On addressing the serious water challenges currently facing Gwanda, Moyo said:
Pumping hours and treatment plan size are no longer enough for the population. We have a three-month salary backlog, and I am addressing that soon. By mid-November, we will be done.
My target is also to remove the dumpsite to a new landfill, and we are working on acquiring the necessary equipment.
We also need streetlights to address dark spots which result in high robbery cases…
I have also approached Pretoria Portland Cement and will visit Blanket Mine to give them land to develop houses for their workers.
I will also engage the lands office to create agro-farming stands across Mtshabezi for crop production as well as cattle farming.
The engagement was not provided for a long time. I am working on unity with all stakeholders so that investors come for development.
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) reportedly gave Gwanda Municipality up to 30 October to pay a ZWL$1.3 billion water debt or be disconnected.
In turn, the local authority threatened to disconnect water to ratepayers over their ZWL$5.1 billion debt.
More: Pindula News
