About 100 Chitungwiza residents yesterday stormed council offices demanding that the Fungai Mbetsa-led resuscitation team leave the town where it is accused of having gobbled close to a million dollars in allowances without anything to show for it.
They were demanding the regularisation of the Nyatsime housing project where hundreds of residents claim to have paid money for stands that have not been delivered.
The resuscitation team was appointed by Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo to turn around the fortunes of the financially-beleaguered town, but residents complain the situation has grown worse in terms of clean water supply, burst sewerage pipes and garbage collection, besides failing to deal with the Nyatsime stands scandal.
The seven-member team is reportedly paying each other as much as $83 000 per month in allowances which residents protest are unwarranted and needless luxury for people that are supposed to be committed to save the town from collapse.
The team was appointed on an interim basis in January after most of the town’s senior officials were suspended and eventually fired on corruption charges. They were supposed to serve an average three months.
Protesting residents yesterday accused Mbetsa’s team of failing to deal with the Nyatsime housing project, among other shortcomings.
“We feel cheated and if they have failed they should go,” Nyatsime housing project chairperson Mavhuto Matombo said.
Over 22 000 potential stand owners claimed they were duped by the local authority then led by town clerk Godfrey Tanyanyiwa.
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Mbetsa, who confirmed recently that he was getting more than $16 000 in allowances, was not immediately available for comment yesterday. He was said to be attending a marathon of meetings at the town head office. His mobile phone was continuously “unreachable”.
Chombo yesterday defended the team’s long stay and allowances saying they were on the right track. He said plans were underway to bring in a new management team by August 1.
“I am glad (job) interviews were held and there will be recommendations to the Local Government Board. Come August 1, there will be a new administration and I am quite happy with what the team has done,” the minister said.
Chombo said over 60 people had applied for the vacant position of town clerk, among them highly qualified personnel.
On high allowances the team was getting, Chombo said residents were making unnecessary complaints as the ultimate goal of the team was to “bring results”.
“Sometimes people complain over what they don’t know. They need to know that we took these people from their own jobs to come here and we pegged those figures,” Chombo said.
