Kwekwe Mayor, Councillor Angeline Kasipo has said that the local authority has roped in debt collectors to recover $46 million it is owed by ratepayers.
The mayor said:
We have engaged Mutatu and Partners as well as Wilmot and Bennet as we try to recover the money the council is owed by ratepayers. We realised that some residents were reluctant to service their accounts with council, a development that has left us with no option but to sue as we strive to keep delivering the desired services.
Debtors have been given a seven-day ultimatum to pay up. Part of the letter from the Council’s lawyers, Mutatu and Partners written to residents read:
We act on behalf of the City of Kwekwe. We have instructions that as at March 2019 you are indebted to our client in respect of water and rates bills. We are instructed to demand as we hereby do payment together with our collection commission within the next seven days thereof. If you fail to do so we shall proceed to court without further notice.
The local authority attributes poor service delivery to lack of sufficient funds. Chairperson of Kwekwe review committee, Mr Shangwa Mavesera, who is also Bindura Town Clerk, said:
There is no service delivery without the ratepayers paying their bills. As a recommendation, Kwekwe is therefore urged to step up efforts to recover what they are owed by the ratepayers for service delivery to improve.
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