FORMER Bulawayo deputy mayor Alderman Amen Mpofu has resigned from the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (MZWP) advisory council with immediate effect citing lack of commitment by the parent Environment, Water and Climate ministry to the project.
SILAS NKALA STAFF REPORTER
In his resignation letter dated March 12 2014, Mpofu thanked former Water Affairs minister Samuel Siphepha Nkomo for having appointed him to the advisory council and also appreciated the hard work and commitment of MZWP chairperson Donald Khumalo and his team in trying to make the project a success.
Mpofu blasted Environment, Water and Climate minister Saviour Kasukuwere for ignoring the MZWP since his appointment last year.
“After a long, long time thinking about the happenings, in particular the appointment of Kasukuwere as Water minister, he never bothered to meet us as an advisory council in order to understand the bigger picture about the whole project. I am tendering my resignation with immediate effect,” Mpofu’s letter reads.
He expressed concerns that the national budget failed to capture such a big life saver project while the Tokwe-Mukosi Dam was always in the headlines and nothing was being said about the MZWP which is also an important project.
“The issue of funds unavailability is only raised when we talk about MZWP. When the president (Robert Mugabe) approved our names to the advisory committee and it ended there, to me it was a clear sign that there is no political will. Surprisingly, Kasukuwere only opened his mouth about this project when he was summoned by the parliamentary committee telling the world that there are no funds,” Mpofu said.
He said they did not accept their appointment to the advisory council for the sake of enjoying, but it was out of concern for the suffering residents of Bulawayo who have experienced perennial water woes. Mpofu said since there was no progress, there was no reason to hang around.
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Contacted for comment, Khumalo said he had not yet received Mpofu’s resignation letter.
“I have not yet received that letter, but what I know is that we had written a letter to the ministry asking them to meet us and we have not yet received any response,” he said.
The MZWP was mooted 102 years ago, but all successive governments have failed to implement it due to a lack of political will.
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