The Sunday News
Sunday News Reporter
PEOPLE’S Rainbow Coalition candidate for Bulawayo South, Mr Clayton Jones has revealed that he is not in the race for the perks and benefits of being a Member of Parliament but his sole prerogative was development.
Mr Jones revealed this in an interview with Sunday News on the sidelines of a meeting he held with the elderly in Sizinda where he said his only promise to the people in the constituency was convincing donors and investors to channel funds in the revival of industries within the constituency, create employment and assist the elderly.
He said he had been working with the community from Bulawayo South for the past two years and he had identified all the major problems affecting the constituency and had already crafted solutions to these problems.
“Bulawayo South is a unique constituency with diverse needs. In the constituency we have pensioners, the elderly, disgruntled former National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) employees and a huge number of people who were affected by the closed industries.
“Now, I am not promising people that when I get into government, government will do this and that but I am being practical in the sense that I will look for investors and donors who will come in to help uplift the constituency. It won’t be about government but me as an individual,” he said.
Mr Jones, who is a consultant for Edgars, said the constituency was previously neglected by the past MPs and Councillors hence it was his task to uplift and direct it towards development.
“Take ward 21 for example, the councillor there (Reuben Matengu) was actually fired on corruption allegations. It is a sad scenario because this shows that the councillor was only there to uplift himself rather than develop the constituency.
“This constituency needs someone who is hands on who really understands the needs of the people and can proffer lasting and realistic solutions to develop this small community. My campaign is also not about holding rallies but I am going to the people talking with them to understand their problems,” he said.
Questioned on the investment he was promising to bring to the constituency, Mr Jones said he was already in touch with investors who were going to pour in funds towards the revival of these industries and empower people in the constituency.
“Yes the government has come up with a number of strategies aimed at attracting investment but you have to understand that some of these investors pour in money to a person they trust and as a consultant I have a number of investors I am working with and we have already developed some form of development strategy that will see the constituency being uplifted.
“One thing I must emphasise is that I am not in it for the money or he perks, I already have a well paying job, I have a house and own a car, therefore this is not about self enrichment but I am here to uplift this community. My challenge is that after five years people would look at the work which I would have done and see for themselves that the community would have been lifted a notch high from where it is today,” said Mr Jones.
On the campaign trail, Mr Jones said everything was going well and he was confident that come 30 July people would gladly vote for him.
