Minutes of a recent special council meeting indicate that the city fathers have bowed down to Chombo’s demands and agreed to award Bonyongwe a house located in the leafy suburb of Newtown at half price, a Mercedes Benz, cellphone and bedroom suite.
“Council resolves that House Number 4 Jason Moyo Avenue, Newtown, be offered to former Executive Mayor Stanford Bonyongwe at 50 percent ($ 46,431) of its value of $ 92,862 as per the ministerial directive,” read the minutes.
The development comes barely a month when Town Clerk Ngwena Musara revealed that the coffers of the local authority are in a dire state. Musara also bemoaned a directive from Chombo barring council from enforcing measures to recover a $10 million debt owed by NewZim Steel, formerly ZISCO.
Musara indicated that council could collapse because it had been forced to continue supplying water to a defaulting company which was not paying up despite using the resource in huge quantities.
Present Mayor, Shadreck Tobaiwa, told The Zimbabwean it was difficult to avoid ministerial directives even if it is clear they are retrogressive.
Since inception of the inclusive government in 2009, Chombo has been accused of presiding over the collapse of MDC-T run urban councils, where he has fired several councillors and mayors.
Post published in: News