More than 1 000 disgruntled residents are said to have taken part in the marches, during which they allegedly sang songs denouncing Zinwa and the government for the “abnormal” bills for September ranging from Z$20 – Z$200 million, which they said were not justified by their consumption.
“The residents were very angry and seemed capable of causing trouble on those two occasions. Fortunately, police arrived in time to stop them before they could storm the Zinwa offices, which they threatened to burn down,” said a taxi driver who witnessed the two marches.
A police officer in the resort town also confirmed that the lawmen were called in to stop the protesters.
“A Zinwa manager phoned us and reported the matter before the residents could reach their offices. They were not violent but seemed to be very angry with both the government and Zinwa. We released those we had arrested in the evening without laying any charges against them as they had not done anything against the law,” said a junior officer.
“Zinwa does not have the resources to provide the service that has been bestowed on it and as a result, it has resorted to charging us abnormal rates and that is what we were protesting against. We are not finished. We will catch them unawares and when they call in the police, it will already be late,” threatened one resident.
“That is abnormal and Zinwa must know that. Where do they think we will get such money, which even companies cannot raise under the current economic situation? I personally was sent a bill of Z$150 million, but I will not pay a cent of that amount because it is not justifiable,” fumed Elton Mwinde, a resident of Mkhosana low density suburb.
Zinwa catchment manager for the Gwayi region, Mattson Chidakwa, said: “We recently raised our rates by about 2 000, but I admit there might have been some anomalies in the way the bills were arrived at. We are consulting with residents and hope to find a solution soon. We also feel for them,” he said. – Bayethe Zitha
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