A 2016 Kwekwe budget consultative meeting held at Kwekwe Theatre was almost aborted after only 10 people turned up for the meeting in which, council is seeking to have residents buy into its $30,5 million budget.
BY BLESSED MHLANGA
Led by Kwekwe Residents and Ratepayers Development Association secretary-general, Alex Homela, council was accused of holding the meetings in bad faith.
The local authority’s officials were also accused of abusing funds and lack of transparency and accountability in the way they were conducting council affairs.
Homela said residents were staying away from the budget consultative process because in the past their concerns have not been factored in.
“For the past years we have been sitting with them and we have noticed that they don’t even consider our input into the budget. We also know they have damning audit reports dating back to 2011, which they have not dealt with yet, but they want us to consider this standstill budget,” he said. The 2011 and 2012 external audit reports, which are yet to be adopted by council, expose a potential scam of $1m.
Auditors alleged that council could have lost a million dollars in dubious transactions, which could not be traced, since management refused to provide documents to the auditors.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Top council executives, among them town clerk, Emmanuel Musara, treasurer, Rejoice Maweni and chamber secretary Lucia Mnkandla, did not attend the consultative meeting, resulting in residents accusing them of taking their contributions for granted.
“We have noticed that none of their managers attended these meetings, yet we know that they are the ones who control expenditure. We know Musara will not even listen to our contributions which we are making in his absence,” Obert Mandonye, who attended the meeting, said.
Finance chairperson, Janet Ticharunga had to plead with residents to contribute to the process and promised that fellow councillors will fight to ensure transparency at the local authority.
Mayor Matenda Madzoke said management had stayed away from budget consultative meetings because they feared they could be beaten up during the meetings.
