The city recently acquired a fleet of Toyota Hilux vehicles to be used by its traffic police.
The Harare Residents Trust Director, Precious Shumba, told The Zimbabwean that he was unaware of the purchase but said it would mean the council had been able to raise funds from vehicle clamping, parking fees and other related traffic fines.
“We would be concerned if there was evidence that the funds used to purchase the vehicles came from other accounts. All expenditure by the council should be linked to their capital and expenditure budgets approved at the beginning of the year,” Shumba said.
Council spokesman Leslie Gwindi confirmed that the council purchased the vehicles a few months ago.
“About eight vehicles were purchased almost three months ago. We make decisions as the executive on how we invest the council’s resources in order to make more money for the city,” Gwindi said. Other residents said the council was neglecting poor and underprivileged residents.
“It is very unfair because these are luxury vehicles. The same council is saying it is broke and is sending notices to people who have lived in the city for over 60 years. It must be made clear that this money belongs to the public,” said Never Dodo of the Combined Harare Residents Association.
Another resident, Tsitsi Wadawareva, who is also a member of CHRA, said residents were not happy.
“Water services are erratic. Now we hear they bought cars for the traffic department. There are other things that need to be prioritised including broken boreholes,” Wadawareva said.
Post published in: News