FORMER Bulawayo deputy mayor Alderman Amen Mpofu has defended the decision to purchase the new mayoral car valued at $118 000.
BY LINDA CHINOBVA
Current mayor Martin Moyo, recently took delivery of a Mercedes-Benz GLE 250 to replace his Mazda BT50, amid an uproar from civic groups and residents’ representatives.
Mpofu, who served as deputy mayor in the previous council, argued there was nothing wrong with the mayor owning a car despite its price, as he was the leader of the city.
“As a senior citizen of the city and someone who has been in the system for a while, I can safely say there is nothing wrong and amiss with the mayor driving an expensive car,” he said, adding previous mayors have driven same-value cars.
“There is nothing new with the mayor getting a car as this is something that has always been there over the past years, and for us to make noise about why the car was bought does not make sense at all because this is just history repeating itself. ”
Mpofu said instead, residents must take pride in their leaders driving such cars.
“Bulawayo has always been a respected city. After all, it is our home and we should take pride in seeing our city father driving that beautiful car and let us stop condemning him and put politics aside,” he said.
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Mpofu said during his tenure, the local authority bought him a car and he left it behind when he left office.
“During my tenure, the local authority bought me a car and instead the residents were excited. When I left office, I surrendered the car back to the local authority and that is why I say residents should stop blowing this issue out of proportion,” he said.
Moyo has also indicated he will leave the car when his term expires next year.
