THE cash-strapped Kwekwe City council, which is struggling to pay salaries and wages among other pressing issues, has resolved to buy Town Clerk Emmanuel Musara a brand new Chevrolet.
BLESSED MHLANGA
The city’s five directors, sitting as a procurement committee, resolved to buy Musara a new official Chevrolet valued at $57 000 and two other vehicles for its top management whose make or value was not stated in the minutes of the meeting.
The January 21 meeting was chaired by Musara and attended by all council directors.
The purchase of Musara’s vehicle comes at a time Kwekwe last week went for two days without water over a Zinwa debt, and disclosures that the town clerk takes home $135 000 annually in salaries and benefits.
According to minutes presented to full council last Thursday, city treasurer Rejoice Maweni, who would also get her official vehicle, told the meeting she would immediately start mobilising funds to buy the three vehicles for top management.
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“Members noted with concern that the purchase of town clerk and heads of department personal issue vehicles has become long outstanding. The director of finance agreed that she would try to mobilise financial resources to purchase town clerk’s vehicle and two for heads of departments,” the minutes read.
This also came barely a month after the local authority recovered a deposit of $30 000 from Croco Motors which was part payment towards a mayoral vehicle.
Mayor Matenda Madzoke, who refused to take delivery of the mayoral vehicle late last year, instructed council to recover the money and instead buy refuse collection trucks and improve service delivery than pamper him with a $58 000 Isuzu D–tec twin cab vehicle.
A council resolution showed that the money would now be used to buy two tractors and trailers to ease refused collection challenges.