A WARD-BASED audit on service delivery by the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) has exposed how delimitation of wards has left some areas exposed to poor service delivery.
BPRA conducted the survey recently.
Speaking to Southern Eye, BPRA organising secretary Melusi Moyo said the delimitation exercise was disastrous to service delivery.
He said ward councillors were left with big areas which they could not service.
“The delimitation exercise, geographically, it was not done in a good manner or in a spirit that would assist the councillors to service their wards adequately because when you look at the demarcations, for example ward 7 Makokoba, stretches up to Tshabalala Extension and other areas in Sizinda. Therefore, it will be difficult for the councillor to cover that ward and fully attend to problems that affect that ward,” said Moyo.
He said a number of residents did not know where they belong in terms of clear demarcations.
“What we discovered from the audit is that the residents will have a difficult time in accessing their councillors. In terms of distance, it will be difficult for them to register their problems to their respective councillors. It is not only ward 7, there are also other wards that are experiencing a similar problem,” he said.
Earlier this year, data analysts Team Pachedu lambasted the delimitation report prepared by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commussion saying it contained hundreds of fake co-ordinates.
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It linked some of the co-ordinates to southern African countries, oceans and Madagascar.
Moyo said resource allocation would be a mammoth task, resulting in some areas being left out.
“The residents decried the delimitation exercise, citing that it did not do them a favour at all. Therefore, we are trying to resolve the problem with the residents, and see if we can reach common ground in terms of ward demarcations,” he said.
