Gweru residents have handed over a petition to President Emmerson Mnangagwa asking him to authorise the disbursement of financial help to Gweru City Council.
Gweru United Progressive Residents and Rate Payers Development Association (GUPRADA), Gweru
Residents Forum (GRF), Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRA), Gweru United Residents Association (GURA), and Gweru Residents Association (GRA) presented the petition to Midlands Provincial Affairs minister Larry Mavima on Friday for onward submission to Mnangagwa.
GUPRADA executive director David Chikore told NewsDay on Monday that the council’s 2020 budget which signifies a 400 percent increase to last year’s budget was justified, only that it coincided with the coronavirus-induced lockdown which affected residents’ incomes. He added:
So in our petition, we are asking the government to bailout council and fund it so that it does not rely on our rates payments alone for service delivery.
The local authority recently announced that it was left with water treatment chemicals which would not last long adding that it had no funds to buy more chemicals.
Gweru Mayor Councillor Josiah Makombe, however, attributed the shortage of funds to poor management by council management.
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