July Moyo
Beatific Gumbwanda
CHIREDZI – Residents have said the new Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing July Moyo has a mammoth task of clearing the mess left behind by his predecessor Saviour Kasukuwere at Chiredzi Town Council.
Residents claim there is a lot of corruption in the council as revealed in a report by an audit team from the ministry.
Kasukuwere, however, refused to officially release the report to the public, let alone act on its reported filthy exposés.
When the audit team visited last year, it – among several other things – discovered that councillors had irregularly shared amongst themselves 40 residential stands that they latter resold to third parties at inflated prices.
The team also found that council chairperson Francis Moyo had been involved in an accident while driving a car he was not supposed to drive.
Residents say town secretary Charles Muchatukwa is fronted by many people in his ownership of multiple stands and properties in the town.
Chiredzi Residents and Ratepayers Association (CHRRA) chairman Jonathan Mupamombe said they were giving the new minister some time to deal with the mess that Kasukuwere ignored at the council.
“Our hope is now pinned on July Moyo. We are very much prepared to work with him to clean up Kasukuwere’s mess at Chiredzi Town Council. We had an investigation team from the ministry and it unearthed a lot of irregularities but everything was swept under the carpet.
“The report must be made public. If the management was caught offside, they must be held accountable. We want service delivery.
“Recently, town engineer Wesley Kauma was spotted connecting water only to his homesteads in Makondo location (Ward 8) using council resources while leaving out the rest of the households,” said Mupamombe.
When contacted for comment, Kauma dismissed the allegations as false.
“That’s a true lie. Residents once threatened to demonstrate against council pertaining connection of water in Makondo location. We are now in the process of connecting all households yet rumours have begun circulating that I am connecting my homesteads only. Truly speaking, we are connecting the whole of Makondo location not my homesteads only as people are saying,” said Kauma.local
