Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is suing Zanu-PF for $15 000 in unpaid rentals at its provincial headquarters located at Davies Hall, one of council properties.
Council sources told NewsDay yesterday the local authority had handed over the matter to its lawyers, Dube-Banda, Nzarayapenga and Partners in a bid to recover the outstanding payment of $14 975, 67 and to evict the party from the property.
This is the second time the former ruling party has been served with an order to vacate the hall which it uses as its provincial headquarters. In November last year, council resolved to evict Zanu PF from the hall after its debt ballooned to $13 000.
BCC chamber secretary Sikhangele Zhou yesterday confirmed the debt, adding: “We have sent some lawyers to collect the debt on behalf of council.” According to insiders, Zanu-PF had paid its monthly rentals less than five times since the country adopted the multi-currency system in 2009.
“They paid $20 early 2009, another in July and $65 in October and about $200 in March this year,” said a council official who refused to be named.
The sources added the party had accumulated a huge telephone bill which combined with the city council debts, adds up to about $38 000.
Said a party source: “After the party was served with an order, party chairman Isaac Dakamela and youth chairman Butholezwe Gatsi, approached Obert Mpofu at his York House offices in Bulawayo to bail them out. “Mpofu told the two he could only afford to fork out $21 000 on condition that Dakamela comes with the political head of the party Sikhanyiso Ndlovu to make the request.”
Mpofu, a Zanu PF politburo member from Matabeleland North province, is reportedly linked to a faction headed by Dakamela.
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The alleged faction is reportedly at loggerheads with Vice President John Nkomo’s faction.
Contacted for comment yesterday, both Dakamela and Gatsi denied the party had an outstanding debt with the council.
But Ndlovu said he was only approached by the province to authorise payment from party funds. “All the other rumours that are being talked about, I don’t know about them,” he said.
Repeated efforts to get a comment from Mpofu were fruitless as his mobile phone went unanswered.
