By Beatific Gumbwanda
CHIREDZI- Tempers recently flared during a Chiredzi Town Council (CTC) full council meeting as councillors clashed over motion to turn Khomanani Beer hall into a flea Market as an income-generating project.
Chiredzi Town Council (CTC) was leasing its two beerhalls ever since 2019, the famous Chigarapasi and Khomanani, whose leases expired in September this year and have since resolved to lease the former to the highest bidder whilst concerns remain on the latter.
Other councillors proposed creating a state of the art flea market. , just like the one in Chikanga, Mutare to increase the local authority’s revenue base but two councillors, Brighton Mahiya (Ward 7) and Costain Momber (Ward 6), opposed the motion saying the local authority should rather enhance the Beer hall into a multifaceted community centre.
Councillor Sekai Njanjure, who is the Audit committe Chairperson, insisted that they should turn Khomanani Beerhall into a better cash cow than it was.
“During the look and learn we had in Mutare, we witnessed that we can turn Khomanani Beerhall into a state-of-the-art flea market, just like what Mutare did towards Chikanga market. We need to implement such an idea in Khomanani, where we could use the main Beerhall as a storage facility for the traders operating there,” said Njanjure.
Mahiya opposed the idea, saying council should deliver better services to its residents, and not all the services should have monetary value.
“It’s not all about making money. We have a lot of sprouting flea markets, with one being less than 50 meters away from Khomanani.
“Former Chiredzi West (now Central) constituency, Darlington Chiwa constructed flea markets just across the Beerhall and were never occupied, why can’t we resuscitate those markets and work towards enhancing the Beerhall into a multifaceted community centre, where various activities take place, like Mini soccer, Beerhall, jumping castles for children, etc because it is central to several wards,” said Mahiya.
Costain Mombe, in whose ward the beerhall is located, chipped in, saying if council decided to continue leasing Chigarapasi to serve its purpose, they should do the same for Khomanani.
“If the council decided to continue leasing Chigarapasi Beerhall for it to continue serving its purpose, why not do the same for Khomanani Beerhall” queried Mombe.
CTC Chairperson, Jameson Charumbira later decided to turn the full council meeting into a committee meeting to further deliberate the issue in the absence of other stakeholders.
Chiredzi Central Constituency Member of Parliament and former councillor, Ropafadzo Makumire, whose constituency houses both Khomanani and Chigarapasi Beerhall told TellZim News in an interview that if the local authority decides not to lease Khomanani Beerhall, they should find something better to use than flea markets since the place was swampy.
“The council must not make such decisions without consulting the people. The site is not suitable for markets as it is susceptible to flooding. The proposed change must retain recreational use and stop a culture of moving vendors from one place to another; it’s a great inconvenience,” said Makumire.
