The ManicaPost
Abel Zhakata
Senior Reporter
Mutare City Council is once again on a collision course with ratepayers after splashing over US$300 000 on luxury vehicles for its senior managers at a time when residents were complaining about poor service delivery.
Some suburbs in Mutare have endured decades of acute water shortages.
Although the city fathers defended the acquisition of the vehicles as contractual, ratepayers have come out guns blazing saying it was a case of misplaced priorities and greed.
Two of the vehicles — a Toyota Fortuner and a Toyota GD6 — have since been delivered to Housing and Community Services Director Mrs Emma Mandiziba and the Health Services Director, Dr Antony Mutara, who is the acting Town Clerk.
The local authority will soon take delivery of more vehicles for the mayor, the city engineer and the finance director.
Mayor, Councillor Blessing Tandi said the purchase of the vehicles would improve service delivery as the senior managers would be incentivised to diligently discharge their duties.
“We were lagging behind in providing our managers with contractual vehicles. Those vehicles were purchased for our managers to help them in the execution of their duties.
“This is a way to incentivise them to work. They are entitled to these vehicles as stated in their employment contracts. As a local authority, we need to attract competent people to fill in managerial posts and one way of doing that is by ensuring that we honour the contractual obligations,” he said.
Clr Tandi said people should not only look at the vehicles bought for the managers, but should look at the holistic recapitalisation programme being undertaken by council.
“We are also recapitalising the local authority. We have bought two tippers, a grader, two refuse compactors, a thematic roller, a motorised water bowser and several other capital equipment.
“We are not only looking at incentivising our workers, but looking at the future of the local authority. These are not misplaced priorities,” he said.
However, the United Mutare Residents and Ratepayers Trust (UMMRT) has already issued a statement denouncing the purchase of the luxury vehicles.
“By justifying the purchasing of the vehicles, Councillor Tandi’s statement portrays his perception about his work and leaves a lot to be desired. By his tone, the Mayor demonstrates his disrespect for the people paying for his bread and butter — the residents.
“He must know that he is occupying that office at the benevolence of the residents. He should respect the residents as they are the ones who elect councillors to these public offices to serve them and not to loot.
“The mayor must not paint a picture that these managers are irreplaceable. With his attitude, residents will remain disadvantaged by people who are not competent to run these offices.
“Because of this disrespect, residents might be demotivated to pay rates. Now that the vehicles are there, residents hope to see a radical change in service delivery, including the elimination of timeless levies, water shortages in Dangamvura, electricity challenges in NHB and Maonde.
“One really wonders how they feel driving those vehicles in areas with no running water and electricity.
“Council must get its priorities right. These are public funds that must benefit the residents, not individuals within the council,” said UMMRT in a statement.
Former Mutare mayor, Mr Brain James, chipped in: “This is really unacceptable. Will these vehicles stay as council property or they will be given out to the recipients as their packages?”
