Story by Tafara Chikumira
THE Gweru local authority has come under fire for misplaced priorities after it recently acquired top-of-the-range vehicles for council directors at the expense of service delivery.
The local authority also stands accused of neglecting the servicing of roads and causing perennial water shortages after buying the wrong transformer for Gwenhoro Water Works.
“Right now, we are facing the rainy season. The city council is very good at collecting money for clamping cars as well as ZINARA money. We don’t understand where all this money is going since the roads are in such a poor state. We are tired of buying spare parts and we appeal to the government to do something about this mess,” said a Gweru resident.
“I don’t understand the people at the townhouse anymore. We rarely receive water in our homes, but they send inflated bills every time. When we fail to pay they are very good at attacking our properties. It’s a very sad scenario,” said another resident.
Small to medium entrepreneurs have also been targeted by the local authority with some losing valuables after being evicted at their workplaces without notice, while those at Mtapa market have not been spared.
An entrepreneur said, “They gave us this place in 2019. We managed to build infrastructure with the help of donors. However, they just came instructing us to leave this place without notice and they also never gave us an alternative. Coincidentally, it started raining and we lost a lot of valuables as our goods were left in the open.”
“They come here and collect money every day. However, the problem is that they are not investing the daily takings into the much-needed infrastructure here. We need toilets since we are currently using the Mtapa cemetery. We also need shades,” said another entrepreneur.
The opposition-led Gweru City Council also stands accused of neglecting recreational facilities after turning a golf course in Mkoba four suburb into a private school.
Ascot Stadium has been decommissioned from hosting Premier Soccer League matches due to its poor state as a result of neglect.
