Is Your MP or Councillor Serving You or Themselves
Zimbabwe is a functioning democracy, Members of Parliament and Councillors are elected to represent the interests of the people. Their mandate is not a personal privilege but a solemn duty to serve the electorate with honesty, diligence and accountability. However, far too often in Zimbabwe, the gap between elected officials and the people who put them into office continues to widen, resulting in disillusionment, apathy and a breakdown in democratic participation. It is time citizens start asking serious questions of their MPs and councillors.
What have they done for you since the last election? Can they account for the promises they made during their campaigns? Have they even returned to your constituency to meet with residents and hear their concerns? If the answer is “NO”, then you have every right and responsibility to demand answers.
An MP is not just a cheerleader for the ruling party or an opposition figurehead, their primary responsibility is to speak on behalf of the people in Parliament, to advocate for policies and budgets that improve local health services, education, infrastructure and livelihoods. Yet many disappear the moment the votes are counted, only to reappear during the next election season with new slogans and empty promises.
Similarly, councillors are supposed to be the first line of contact between local government and the people. They must ensure clean water, working streetlights, refuse collection and decent roads (All not working) not attend endless workshops and photo opportunities while the community crumbles around them.
We must shift the culture of silence and patronage. There is nothing disrespectful about asking your councillor when your road will be fixed, why you do not have water or sewer, why your clinic has no medicines or how council funds are being spent. There is nothing unreasonable about demanding a monthly report from your MP or a community feedback meeting every quarter. These are not favours, they are obligations tied to the positions they hold.
Citizens must organise and use available platforms ward meetings, petitions, social media, even traditional leadership structures to consistently ask: What have you done for us? MPs and councillors are public servants. Their salaries and allowances are paid by taxpayers. They must never forget that they work for the people.
As the 2028 elections approach, we must not be guided by party colours or slogans alone. Demand track records, not manifestos. Support those who show up, not those who show off. Accountability must be the new political currency.
It is time we remind our elected leaders that the title “Honourable” must be earned through service not merely awarded through votes. Ask the hard questions. Demand the hard answers. That is how democracy works and thrives.
Engineer Jacob Kudzayi Mutisi
+263772278161
