HARARE – President Mnangagwa’s government has set the ball rolling to deal with corrupt councillors.
In a letter addressed to all Town Clerks/Secretaries and Chief Executive Officers, the Secretary for Local Government and Public Works Z.R Churu said that in light of the numerous recent cases reported on and uncovered by investigations each Council is hereby required to submit a list of all stands, residential, commercial or industrial. The government has also requested a list of all infills created since the swearing-in of councillors and the beneficiaries of the stands created and a list of stands available in the Council land bank.
Sometime this year, MDC leader Nelson Chamisa threatened to crack the whip on corrupt Bulawayo councillors after accusing them of bringing the party’s name into disrepute.
Chamisa met Bulawayo residents and other stakeholders at a hotel in the city, where issues of corruption and poor service delivery by the MDC-run council took centre stage.
The MDC-led council has been rocked by allegations of corruption and rabid infighting.
The MDC leader admitted that his councillors lacked capacity on local governance issues, in particular on procedural issues of handling disputes within the confines of the law.
Norton Member of the House of Assembly Temba Mliswa (INDEPENDENT) once blasted the Chamisa-led MDC for focusing so much on corruption in Zanu-PF yet the opposition Councillors themselves were dabbling in corruption which he said was being overlooked by the party.
Mliswa is on record saying that MDC Councillors in Norton are have been corruptly parcelling out stands on wetlands to desperate residents and demanding bribes in the execution of their duties.
