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By Chris Mahove
A Zimbabwean born businessman is running for Mayor in the city of Allentown in the United States of America.
Solomon Tembo, who was born in Kadoma, will contest against two other candidates, a Cuban and a Spaniard in the mayoral election slated for November 2.
The city of Allentown is home to 127 000 people the largest number being white, followed by Hispanics and then blacks.
Tembo is promising the electorate bountiful opportunities and shared prosperity for all through economic growth, job creation, service delivery as well as strengthened and empowered communities and neighbourhoods.
“The city needs someone who can make the unequivocal pledge and commitment to create good-paying jobs while attracting new investment capital into the city for its development and revitalisation,” he told Newsday from his base.
He said he would work to make housing more affordable to accommodate all residents of the city and improve service delivery while rehabilitating the city’s crumbling infrastructure.
The poor in the community, he said, would be protected by ensuring that taxpayers money is spent responsibly and ensuring that the city’s savings were used to protect services for the most vulnerable groups.
“We will employ stringent debt management and vigorous financial oversight to create savings to advance our progressive agenda to strengthen education, health care and environmental protection,” he said, adding that the strengthening and empowering of the communities was top on his agenda once elected.
Tembo also promised to crack down on corruption, crime and drug addiction as well as maintain law and order as a way of providing safety and security to the community and neighbourhoods.
The justice system, he said, would be reformed to make it fair and balanced.
Tembo was born in Kadoma to Solomon Evaristo Tembo, the first black councillor in the then Gatooma in 1978 who served under the mayorship of one Mr Kidias.
Tembo worked at Gateway International Exchange before moving to the United States of America in 1994 to pursue his studies.
He went to Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, a public university in Kutztown, a borough in Berks County, where he studied business.
He worked as a Hotel Manager for Sheraton, Hilton and Crown Plaza before starting his own business empire which includes a tax consulting office, a transport company and his newly established Home Care which he runs with two other partners.