By Perpetua Murungweni
In a move to address recent criticisms, Masvingo City Council resolved to purchase two new ambulances, following a damning video published by TellZim News showing its only functional ambulance being pushed after breaking down.
This came out during a Public Finance Management (PFM) meeting organized by Vendors Initiative for Social Development and Economic Transformation (VISET) in partnership with Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Alliance (MURRA) held at Chevron Hotel on January 7, 2025.
Masvingo City Council Finance and General Purpose committee chairperson and ward 9 Councilor Bernard Muchokwa in his presentation acknowledged TellZim News for exposing the council ambulance being pushed and said they had budgeted for two more in the 2025 budget.
“As council we were very ashamed to see our ambulance being pushed in a post by TellZim News on social media and that made us realize that we needed to do something about it. So in this year’s budget, we have allocated US$60 000 to purchase two more ambulances,” said Muchokwa.
Masvingo City Mayor Alec Tabe said this year council was going to embark on income generating projects to ease the burden on residents.
“As council we have come out of our comfort zone and think outside the box, we have decided to embark on some income generating projects. We are going to establish a truck stop at Exor. We are also going to offer lodge services and service stations as a way of raising funds than relying on rates paid by residents,” said Tabe.
Council had for the past years blaming the government for poor service delivery and high inflated rates saying government was not disbursing devolutions funds.
