Bulawayo dismisses reports of plans to disband municipal police

Bulawayo (New Ziana)-The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) does not plan to disband any of its sections nor convert contracts of employment for permanent employees to fixed term, a senior official has said.

Town clerk Christopher Dube said this on Thursday following reports that the local authority planned to disband its municipal police department and hire a private security company to guard its premises.

The reports said the move was part of strategies to cut the wage bill. However, the move stirred anger amongst stakeholders and residents who said such decisions cannot be made without extensive consultation.

In a dramatic u turn, Dube said council had not agreed on the proposal to disband the municipal police.

“A report outlining various revenue collection strategies was submitted to a Special General Purposes Committee on the 1st of June 2023 and several interventions were proposed including, replacement of City Council Municipal Police at the Revenue Hall with a private security company; replacement of City Council permanent staff in the Revenue Hall with contract workers and re-opening of Khothama Market.

“The above proposals were not approved or adopted by Council,” said Dube in a statement.

“Council has no plans to disband any of its sections nor convert permanent employees’ contracts of employment to fixed terms contracts.”

Dube said the local authority would not take such measures without consulting all concerned parties.

New Ziana