KWEKWE City Council’s housing department is in the eye of a storm following claims management could have misled city fathers into believing that Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries (PHD) was funding the rehabilitation of Mbizo Stadium. The stadium’s precast wall during a stampede last year.
BY BLESSED MHLANGA
Earlier on, council’s housing director Newton Madzoke had indicated that PHD leader Walter Magaya had poured $20 000 towards repairing the stadium following the stampede which killed his 11 congregants during an all-night prayer meeting.
However, it later emerged that Sable Chemicals, which has since adopted the stadium as a home ground for its Division One League soccer team was funding the renovations.
Sable Chemicals’ health services officer, Victor Marowa, on Saturday confirmed that his company had invested nearly $25 000 towards the rehabilitation of the stadium.
“We have adopted this stadium as our home ground and we have been funding the rehabilitation of this facility as a corporate social responsibility because this is community property so we started by repairing the fence which was brought down by PHD Ministries, fixed the changing room and toilets, the grandstands and football turf,” he said.
Mayor Matenda Madzoke also said the information he had was that all renovations were being carried out by PHD and that Sable Chemicals had actually been contracted by the church led by Walter Magaya.
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“In the face of these conflicting statements, I think I now have to seek clarity from management on who is doing what because we were told in council that PHD was funding these renovations. We will have a dilemma as to who to thank for that good work and maybe there could be a case of double dipping. So give me time to clarify these issues,” Madzoke said.
Giving a keynote address during the Expo which saw top doctors attending to patients free of charge, guest of honour Blessed Chitambira the Zimasco chief executive praised Sable Chemicals for the work it was doing to keep the stadium in shape.
“I am advised that the company has since adopted and taken over the renovation and maintenance of Mbizo Stadium from council and we already see the results of a high level of corporate social responsibility,” he said.
