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| Wesley Kauma |
Beatific Gumbwanda
CHIREDZI – United Chiredzi Residents and Ratepayers Association
(UCHIRRA) and Masvingo Residents Forum (MRF) have petitioned the town council
to dismiss town planner Consider Kubiku and engineer Wesley Kubiku so that more
suitable people with capacity to do the work can be recruited.
Kubiku and Kauma are currently
fighting serious allegations of graft after they were recently arrested by the
Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc).
In a seven-point joint petition
plea submitted to council, UCHIRRA as represented by Bernard Dhachi and MRF as
represented by Brighton Ramusi, called for the dismissal of the two senior officials
who are currently on suspension pending court outcomes of the corruption charges they face.
“Chiredzi Town Council is
becoming one of the most corrupt towns. Numerous cases of corruption have been
recorded with the latest being the arrest of top council officials (engineer
and planner).
“Corruption has hampered
service delivery which has deteriorated to unprecedented levels, with residents
going for days without water while garbage goes for months uncollected,”
reads the petition.
“Last year, floods hit the
town and over 50 families’ homes and property were flooded. Due to poor
planning, council allowed residents to build houses in wetlands,” reads part of
the petition.
The two residents lobby group
said the office of engineer and town planner needed to be manned by
substantive, competent and non-compromised people for the sake of optimum
service delivery.
“We want roads to be
serviced and maintained properly. The waste management department of Chiredzi
town needs to keep the town neat and clean. The town council must build proper
small stalls for street vendors. We need public toilets in the town and tapped
water should be provided to all areas,” the petition further reads.
