Former Health Minister Dr Henry Madzorera will be representing Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) in Kwekwe ward 10 in the upcoming general elections.
The ward's outgoing councillor is former mayor Kwekwe Mayor Angeline Kasipo who is currently serving a council suspension.
Speaking to NewZimbabwe.com, Madzorera described being a councillor as a more important task than cabinet minister and a senator, posts he previously held.
He will face off with business tycoon and property mogul Solomon Matsa.
"Most people think that from being a senator to a councillor is a climbdown but actually, being a councillor is a more important job than being a senator and being a National Assembly Member. As councillors we deal with issues which are really affecting people. We have a real budget to run as councillors, we have real lives to look after, we have real roads, real water and sewer situations to fix. We have people's health care, we deal with social welfare issues, all those things are on the shoulders of the councillors. It's a much more important job," Madzorera said.
He served as a Health and Child Welfare minister during the Government of National Unity (GNU) from 2009 to 2013 and was Kwekwe senator.
"If you are to look at Kwekwe City Council budget you might realise the budget may be similar or may be more than another ministry and so it's a serious responsibility and as Zimbabweans we must start to take local governments seriously and give it the seriousness it deserves because that's where the people are," he said.
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He added that fighting corruption will be his key focus once elected.
"Our president Nelson Chamisa is committed to create a corruption free council that delivers on the mandate it was elected for by the people and I must give him all the respect for personally looking into the local authorities and deciding on the calibre of the candidate so that we can deliver. We don't want corruption. It's not business as usual. We cannot continue on the same mantra while giving fertilizer to corruption. We have enough money to run these councils.
"What we can promise as a party is service delivery. We are looking at health care. Our clinics and hospitals are now empty shells. We promise good service delivery. Why can't we build proper roads in the cities, it's all corruption, we have seen some tenders being given to some companies without any know-how or without any engineer. I have to commend Kwekwe on the delivery of water. However, there are many other areas in which Kwekwe has been weak, and we need to strengthen those."
