Gweru mayor blasts corrupt management

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GWERU mayor Hamutendi Kombayi has taken a swipe at council management for engaging in corrupt activities at the expense of good service delivery at the municipality.

GWERU mayor Hamutendi Kombayi has taken a swipe at council management for engaging in corrupt activities at the expense of good service delivery at the municipality.

Stephen Chadenga OWN CORRESPONDENT

Addressing a full council meeting on Tuesday, Kombayi said middle managers were not being transparent particularly in dealing with illegal reconnection of water supplies as well as with vending sites.

“We have a situation where we disconnect water to encourage the payment of bills by residents, but we get surprised when council workers go through the back door and illegally reconnect the water,” a visibly angry Kombayi said.

“The level of corruption at council is appalling and this has to be dealt with as a matter of urgency.”

Kombayi said it was disturbing that the number of vendors operating in the city was unknown, a situation he said was an indication that dirty money was exchanging hands.

The tough-talking mayor said management should devise a transparent and accountable vending system.

He accused the local authority’s audit team of failing to move swiftly in order to unearth loopholes within the municipality in order to timeously expose corruption.

Kombayi said employees should be afforded the opportunity through their workers’ committee to submit the challenges they face on a monthly basis.

“Our workers are an important stakeholder and we are facing challenges even remunerating them on time, but we should also give them an opportunity to air their problems to council through their workers’ committee,” he said.

Unconfirmed reports from council sources claim that the local authority lost close to $75 000 from vendors in trading fees, as they went for more than two years without paying.