Council should consider fund-raising initiatives

By Sharon Chikowore

CHINHOYI – CHINHOYI Municipality should consider other fund-raising initiatives that can sustain their cash flow needs than waiting for money from residents and the Government only.
The council is failing to provide the town with the basic amenities, blaming lack of funds.
Stakeholders who attended the 2023 Budget Consultations, contributed ideas on how council could earn money. They discouraged it from just sitting while not able to come up with ideas and solutions to problems at hand.
“We have to come up with a serious business unit that will help financially. We can raise resources from within. We have stakeholders, who are making a lot of money but like what Chinhoyi Rates and Tax Payers’ Association Chairperson, Richard Chafausipo has said there is need for good relationships and approach.
“There is need to have other fund-raising initiatives, like brick moulding, where everyone who needs to build will know that building material I can get it from council,” said Tapiwa Chikondowa.
The stakeholders emphasised the need for good relations between the ratepayers and council employees, saying that the way some council employees are engaging with residents can cost the council a lot, as they push away potential investors and residents who are ratepayers because of their attitude.
Residents have complained about the way council employees respond when they approach them for help or if there is need for service delivery.
This was brought up after some stakeholders complained about how council employees were giving them a raw deal.
Combined Residents’ Association Chairperson, Tendai Musonza, said the relationship between council employees and residents should improve because the attitude they display affected the budgets.
“The level of arrogance presented by council employees to the residents affect the budgets. This has to be looked into. You need to improve the relationship,” he said.
Chafausipo said as residents, they needed to be attended to when they came for inquiries and help and that there is need to communicate well with the residents and stakeholders, especially from the Public Relations Department.
He said if they failed to communicate well or give out information, it would affect almost everything on the budget.
Council, it was suggested, should pay its employees as it was concluded that maybe their attitude stemmed from the fact that they were not getting their salaries.