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By Gilbert Munetsi
A Mutare-based community group advocating for the empowerment of youths and women has come out guns blazing, objecting to City of Mutare’s proposed 20 perent tariff hike for 2022.
Manica Youth Assembly Trust (MAYA) – whose mandate is to encourage active and holistic participation by the two groups so as to proffer solutions on Wednesday wrote to the city fathers demanding attention to a host of anomalies before the local authority can consider hiking levies by such a margin.
Ironically, when literally translated, “maya” is street lingo for “no”.
The trust’s co-ordinator, Jussa Kudherezera, in a correspondence argued the city was solely relying on income collection from rate payers, without effort to formulate income-generation projects as is the case with other local authorities the world over.
“Council is relying on rates payment as main source of income, and manipulates rate interests at will to fatten their pockets. Elsewhere councils have strategic business units such as power generation and water recycling,” MAYA said.
The organisation called on Mutare city to first publish income and expenditure for the past years on revenue collected from Government, ratepayers and donors, as well as correct billing anomalies to protect residents.
The organisation is also concerned that nothing in the proposed budget is destined for refurbishment of council rented accommodation that includes places like OTS, Matida, Muchena and Maonde.
Corruption is also cited in the litany of allegations of mismanagement allegations the organisation is directing at the council.
For instance, $300 000 that had been earmarked for construction of a pipeline in Dangamvura had not been accounted for, and the same went for tracts of land that are alleged to have been corruptly sold prejudicing Mutare of the much needed revenue. Nhau/Indaba
