The affected hotels and lodges are currently battling to recover the outstanding debt with some now threatening to take legal action to recover the money.
Regency group of companies chief executive Mr Fredrick Kasese told the parliamentary portfolio committee on budget and finance this week( last week) that the government has failed to hounor the debt despite concerted efforts to have the money paid back.
Regency group of hotels provided accommodation and meals for members of COPAC during the outreach programme.
The hotel chains also contracted services to some local lodges and hotels since it could not alone provide services to members of COPAC .
"Copac owes us a staggering USD 208 which was incurred by the parliamentary select committee during the outreach programme", Kasese told the committee chaired by Zanu PF legislator Paddy Zhanda.
"We are not sure whether we are going to get the money or not", he added. "We are urging the government to lead by example by paying its debts".
The debt has impacted negatively on the operations of the affected hotels amid reports that COPAC might be disbanded anytime soon after the constitutional referendum expected this year.
An official from COPAC told The Zimbabwean that the select committee owes large sums of money to different organizations but promised that the debts would settled once funding has been secured.
"It has to be considered that we rely on money released to us in batches either by treasury or donors so once we secure funds to pay our debtors", said the official.
It has also emerged that the government owes Masvingo city council over USD 4 million dollars negatively affecting the smooth operations of the local authority.
Contributing to the same committee last week Masvingo Mayor Femias Chakabuda said the outstanding debt would improve the face of the city if paid.
The mayor said they can not cut off supplies of services such as water to government institutions which include hospitals, army barracks and tertiary institutions.
"We can cut water supplies to residents even if they owe us USD 20 but we can not cut supplies to the army barracks because if we dispatch our men to go and do so they will not come back", said Chakabuda.
The mayor said the government has failed to provide funding to local authorities to rehabilitate their ailing infrastructure.
He said it was unfair for government to accuse local authorities of failing to provide god and reliable services to the people when it has not funded the upgrading of infrastructure such as sewerage system and water.
"All local authorities inherited infrastructure which was there before 1980 at independence and ever since the government has failed to provide funding to upgrade these infrastructure and yet they accuse us of failing to provide adequate service to residents", said Chakabuda.
Meanwhile Masvingo residents have urged the inclusive government to urgently sniff out ghost workers within the civil service.
Zimbabwe's civil service has ghost workers who are currently on the state payroll.
Muranganwa Chanyau a Masvingo resident said despite a manpower audit by Enerst and Young which revealed that over 60 000 ghost workers were in the civil service there was nothing being done to get rid of them.
"We have to remove these ghost workers to ensure that the resources are channeled to genuine civil servants", said Chanyau.
Zhanda the Chairman of the portifolio committee said they will make recommendations and presentation to finance minister Tendai Biti so that the concerns of the people are incorporated into the forth coming budget.
Post published in: News