By Correspondent
The business community in Marondera has rejected the move by the Municipality of Marondera to charge 2023 licence fees in United States dollars only.
Council had ordered business owners to renew their licence fees in USD only with some expected to fork out around US$1000 for licence renewal.
A number of shop owners told Open Council Marondera that council should allow them to pay the licence fees in both local and foreign currencies.
Marondera Urban Business Forum (MUBF) chairperson Emmanuel Danha confirmed the demand of foreign currency and said businesses will not take heed of council’s unilateral demands.
“We have received quite a worrying number of complaints or from those seeking clarity and guidance on the 2023 Business License Fees.
“Apparently, the Council has started issuing out quotations and invoices exclusively in USD terms only without any other payment options availed.
“This is wrong, illegal and unilateral as the 2023 budget itself is yet to be approved by the government.
“We will tackle the council head on and come to the bottom of this dictatorship tendencies,” he said.
Efforts to get a comment from Marondera Mayor Simbarashe Nyahuye were fruitless as his mobile phone was not reachable.
A good move by the business community. Council needs to avoid unilateralism in its dealings with residents and the business community. Consultation should be the cornerstone of how council should conduct its business
However, residents themselves generally don’t attend or respond to Council issues as they should. They should be more proactive and involved.
Sir,arrange us a meeting with the responsible persons who come up with those figures. What measures do they have in place to protect us from unregistered street vendors before they even start bringing up this issue of shop license. We have a lot to discuss with them as registered business community of Marondera.