CITE
19th July 2023
By Tanaka Mrewa
Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) aspiring Bulawayo Ward 4 councillor David Coltart has vowed to rid the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) of corruption and revert the city to its former glory should he be voted into office.
Coltart has also been touted as the city’s next mayor.
In an interview on This Morning on Asakhe, a Twitter Space run by CITE, Coltart said he accepted the challenge after being approached by several party members and other political players, requesting him to take up the challenge and try his best to restore the city’s pride and glory.
“I have been out of government for ten years and I have really enjoyed the break as I have managed to reconnect with my family and friends in the city I love. So, when the party asked me what role I would like to play I said you can put me back into Senate, put my name at the bottom, I know I would not be voted for, but I would have shown my allegiance to the party,” he said.
“Then some members suggested that I vie for council office and try and restore the dignity of the city. Some people, even those from other parties-not Zanu-PF of course, said why don’t you go into council and restore the city pride. So, because of those requests, I have agreed to stand in as councillor for Ward 4. I viewed that as a poisoned chalice because there would be very high expectations and they would be very difficult to meet.”
Responding to reports of him likely to land to mayoral position, Coltart said he was not getting ahead of himself.
“There is a lot of talk about me being mayor. I am not counting those particular chickens before they hatch. There is a process, I must be elected as councillor for Ward 4, the CCC will have to have a majority number of councillors and then I would have to secure the support of other councillors to become mayor. It is a long road to travel in that regard, so I am not making any assumptions in that regard,” he said.
He said his vision of the city is to rid it of corruption in order to attract more investments.
“If I am to sum up my vision for the city, it is to clean up Bulawayo. It has become clear in my mind that one of the reasons why Bulawayo is not working is because of corruption which has become endemic. Bulawayo is not working because of corruption, it is driving away potential investors. I want our city to have more investments and we can do that by eradicating corruption, which has become endemic,” Coltart said.