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The country’s 92 rural and urban local authorities yesterday successfully elected council chairpersons, mayors and their deputies, setting the stage for tackling the multi-faceted challenges facing residents countrywide. Today the Eighth Parliament officially opens where President Mugabe sets the legislative agenda for the First Session; these national events are not mutually exclusive but very complementary.

All levels of Government are in place, what remains is a return on the investment the voter made by voting his/her representative into office.

It is pleasing to note that Zanu-PF has since set high standards for its candidates who prevailed in the harmonised elections.
We call on all other parties that were fortunate enough to gain the confidence of the voter to follow suit.

As Zanu-PF celebrates its victory in some of the councils dominated by MDC-T, the winners should be reminded that this time stakes are so high and the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Dr Ignatius Chombo should fire under-performing councillors.

Now that the rainy season is almost two months away, it is our hope that the new councils should ensure they dedicate resealing of potholes in major city roads.

We do not expect individuals to scuttle development for petty political reasons and those found on the wrong side of the law should be dealt with.

Some urban roads in both high and low density suburbs have virtually become dust roads, rubbish bins have not been collected, resulting in the majority of the residents using illegal points to dump garbage, which is a threat to public health.

It is our hope that the new councils will prioritise the provision of clean water in homes, ensure that sewage gushing in some towns such Chitungwiza and Harare is a thing of the past and that water borne diseases should never affect urbanites again.

This time most councils will be run by Zanu-PF officials and it is our hope that Minister Chombo will deal with some corrupt individuals and councils that seek to subvert the residents’ will by engaging in unethical behaviour such as circumventing tender procedures by receiving bribes to award deals to friends among other ills.

Minister Chombo has already fired some warning shots and it is our sincere hope that heads will roll in councils found on the wrong side of the law. How long shall residents continue to pay for corruption while councils cover up for their incompetence by asking the people to pay exorbitant bills?

We say enough is enough; the motto should be now service delivery, the residents deserve better.
The national housing waiting list now stands at over one million and this must put pressure on new councils to deliver so that as their terms of office end, more poor Zimbabweans will be proud owners of descent houses.

The previous MDC-T led councils did nothing serve for looting housing stands and evicting poor elderly widows from council houses for them to move in.

We implore Minister Chombo to ensure that will not repeat itself in our councils.
We challenge the council to ensure that as they set the stage rolling, more land should be serviced and be afforded at low cost to residents for them to build their homes.

This, therefore, calls for the councils to enter into partnerships with local banks, companies and some credible non-governmental organisations to fund the housing projects with the loans payable over relaxed periods of time.

Following the implementation of a successful land reform, many people, about 70 percent of the entire population, now live in farming communities and rural areas.

These people have been neglected for over a decade and hopes are high that the mainly Zanu-PF councils that have a history of implementing pro-people policies will rise to this challenge and ensure at least some dignity is restored to the people.

The country’s network of feeder roads had completely broken down due to the devastating effects of economic sanctions that left the District Development Fund financially hamstrung and as we call for the Government to start implementing some of its pro-people policies, at least let it prioritise our rural people.

To all our councils, the challenge is please deal with state of road networks in rural areas, rehabilitate infrastructure such as dip tanks, schools, boreholes, community halls among other communally owned facilities.

Many people have proved to be enterprising farmers but their efforts were going down the drain because public transporters have been shunning their areas resulting in fresh produce and other cash crops being damaged.

As the new council chairpersons, mayors and their deputies assume office, the challenge that lies ahead of them is mammoth and that it’s no longer work as usual. Parties that neglect these grass roots structures will pay dearly come next elections because its people on the ground who give them the mandate to govern.