After years of MDC-T being accused of turning a blind eye to corruption and excessive spending at councils it runs, the party has done the right thing by ordering Bulawayo City Council to sell a second car bought for the city’s mayor.
Comment: NewsDay Editor
Bulawayo mayor, Martin Moyo received a Mercedes Benz worth $118 000. While they may be arguments that this is commensurate with his post, the reality is that the city can ill-afford such luxury and a cheaper car would not have done his reputation any harm.
To add insult to injury, the local authority then purchased a Chevrolet Trailblazer worth $65 000 for the mayor, triggering an outcry from residents, who felt all this expenditure was unjustified.
Moyo may have a valid excuse on why two cars were purchased for him, but the party’s decision is the right one, as it shows that it frowns on council’s profligacy when most of the city has long suffered an industrial death.
It is no secret that most people in Bulawayo are unemployed and the city has borne the brunt of deindustrialisation and when the city council is procuring vehicles and other trinkets, they should be sensitive to the realities of the majority of residents.
The city council has always complained of the money it is owed by residents and the government, meaning they hardly have spare money lying around and justifying the purchase of cars worth almost $200 000 is almost impossible.
We hope MDC-T take this approach to other councils and act very quickly where there are suggestions of corruption and greed by public officials.
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The Chitungwiza Town Council issue is one such example, where accusations of impropriety are the order of the day.
MDC-T should not wait for Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere to act, but should have their own mechanisms of investigating corruption and if the allegations are true, should act swiftly and pre-emptively.
By doing this, they portray themselves as a party that will not tolerate any corruption or greed from their officials and that they can be trusted with more power in future elections.
Failure to act would be akin to giving hostage to fortune, as those that are affected by councils’ corruption or lack of sensitivity to their realities are likely to respond by voting for other parties in the next election.
In this regard, we praise the action they took in Bulawayo and hopefully this is the beginning of the party being proactive and understanding that being in a public office should not open the door to self-aggrandisement.
