TSHOLOTSHO headmen and village heads are demanding cars and decent housing from government saying the benefits were commensurate with the amount of work they were expected to do.
BLONDIE NDEBELE
Speaking on the sidelines of a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Bulawayo Agenda at Tsholotsho business centre last Friday, the traditional leaders demanded an increase of their monthly allowances of $140 for headmen and $20 for village heads.
Headman Thomas Ndegwana of Dombo village in Tsholotsho said their allowances were not commensurate with the hard work they do. “Headmen should be given cars and proper houses should be built for them. Village heads should be given bicycles at least to enable them to attend meetings easily,” he said.
“We are getting very little allowances. This money comes very late and some of the traditional leaders are not even getting anything at all. We need an increment and they must pay us on time. We are still expecting January allowances at this moment when February has already come to an end.
“Last year as headmen we told our chiefs about the problem and they assured us that they would forward the matter to the chiefs council, but we have not received any response since then.”
The meeting, facilitated by Bulawayo Agenda in partnership with the Church and Civil Society Forum (CCSF), focused on peace and ways of preventing violence as the country heads for a referendum and elections.
The government provides cars, houses and over $300 monthly allowances to chiefs.
