Buy equipment not cars-Kombayi

GWERU – Former Gweru Mayor Alderman Hamutendi Kombayi has urged Gweru City Council to buy
capital goods, which will help improve service delivery instead of buying luxury vehicles for the
directors.

Commenting on the Gweru 2024 budget consultative process, Kombayi said if residents do not
propose the buying of capital goods like pumps and water pipes so as to improve water provision,
management will buy themselves vehicles.
“We demand to know the capital goods to be purchased in 2024. We want water pumps for
Whitewaters, Amapongokwe and Gwenoro treatment plants as well as pumps to feed to residential
areas.

“The pipeline feeding water into town should also be replaced,” he said.
Gweru has in the past 10 years experienced intermittent water challenges.
Kombayi urged residents to be part of the budget consultation process so that they highlight areas
council should attend to.

“We should know what we want as residents when we go for these consultations,” he said.
Kombayi advised Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association director Cornelius Selipiwe that if
residents do not focus on capital goods they will mourn for another year.

“This is the time we need to put our heads together as residents and be part of the budget process
so that capital goods like water pumps are bought instead of vehicles,” he said.
Kombayi said it was difficult to advise incumbent mayor Martin Chivhoko as his party Citizens
Coalition for Change was politicising his office.

“Chivhoko is under pressure from his party CCC as he is not allowed to be seen conversing with
people from other political parties like Kombayi who is a member of the MDC-T.
“That has been going on since we were together in council during the Freedom of the City status
awarded to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

“They have instructions that if they engage with certain people, there will be problems for him so I
cannot waste my time trying to advise him,” he said.
Council spokesperson Vimbai Chingwaramusee said council had not started ward consultations but
had had two meetings with residents that were organised by GRRA.
Selipiwe said they conducted meetings in Mkoba and with people with disabilities aimed at
explaining a budget consultative questionnaire developed by Gweru.

“Council developed a questionnaire, which is meant to help residents have an input into the budget.
“We however realised it was designed in such a way that it uses data and can only be accessed if you
have an android cellphone. We then decided to print the questionnaire and also realised that there

were questions that needed explanation from council, so we invited general residents and PWDs and
also had (Owen) Masimba the Gweru finance deputy director to explain,” he said.
The Ministry of Local Governance and Public Works through an October 2 circular said it will not
approve council budgets if there is no evidence of consultations.
The ministry further said all budgets should have been advertised by November 10.