The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Sunday News Reporter
MDC Alliance candidate for Ward Eight in the Bulawayo local authority elections, Mr Edwin Ndlovu believes political divisions has been stalling progress in the city, saying his first priority when elected is to foster unity as this was key to development.
Mr Ndlovu, who is a prominent businessman in the city, is also the PDP deputy national spokesperson, having also served for a long period as the MDC Bulawayo provincial spokesperson.
“I want to unite the community of Ward Eight because people are divided on party lines which is not good. I will focus on uniting the residents associations and ensure everyone is represented in the association so that we work together for the development of the ward and the city.
“Secondly, I want to work for the community, as you know since 2000 up to today, MDC has been providing councillors and MPs but they were failing to implement the policies of the party because we were failing to get into power as our presidential candidate continued faltering. However, if we again fail to go to State House the people should not suffer because we are not the ruling party which is why we need councillors who are innovative, who will represent people regardless of party affiliations,” said Mr Ndlovu.
He said he has taken the bold step of graduating from background politics and throwing his hat in the fray to serve the community after noting that he had the capabilities to help foster development in the city.
“I have been in politics for the past 21 years and I have not been contesting in the past elections, actually I preferred to be in the background where I managed to serve in various portfolios, mainly in the communications department. We are PDP and we contesting under the coalition banner of MDC Alliance.
“I felt the time was right for me to now enter mainstream politics. Actually I would have chosen to go to Parliament but as a doyen of devolution of power I thought it is better for me to stand at local authority level so that we implement the devolution of power which we have been yearning for,” said Mr Ndlovu.
On the problems bedevilling the Bulawayo City Council, chief among them being corruption among councillors, Mr Ndlovu said he is already a businessperson and was contesting mainly to help develop the city.
“For starters I am a businessperson so going to the council chambers is not that I am looking for employment but I am going there to help implement the policies which we believe in as the Alliance therefore I won’t be tempted to steal or focus on selfish motives like self enrichment. I have also seen how the ordinary residents have been affected by corruption so I will try to work with other councillors to ensure that no corruption is happening at the local authority.
“I am therefore urging the people of Ward Eight to vote for me as councillor so that I help the community regardless of whether as a party we go to State House or not,” he said.
Mr Ndlovu who is a holder of a Bachelor of Arts in English and Communication degree from ZOU and currently doing Bachelor of Arts Special Honours degree in Media and Communication with the same university, said he would also work with donors to equip school leavers in the ward with life enhancement skills.
“I am excited that all the structures of the three most visible Alliance partners in Bulawayo support me that is the MDC-T led by Advocate Chamisa, the Professor Welshman Ncube led MDC and our own PDP. I have been moving around with the district chairpersons of all parties hence I am happy with the ground work so far, they know me, they know my capabilities, they know how I can help the party and take the city to high levels,” he said.
