Staff Reporter
Marondera residents and business people have rejected council’s 2023 budget accusing management of approving it without following the necessary procedures.
In a letter dated November 24, signed by representatives of both bussiness and residents associations, council is being accused of unilaterally endorsing the budget.
“The procedure was not properly addressed with the residents and their stakeholders.
“The residents’s inputs were not considered to be important at that stage.
“The previous budget review and expenditure priorities need to be addressed clearly to enable the 2023 budget to show the improved service delivery,” reads part of the letter.
In the letter council management is being accused of allocating themselves volumes of fuel at the expense of service delivery.
“Diesel allocation, for example, should be provided to the refuse removal trucks first before the directors could withdraw 450 litres per month for personal use,” reads the letter.
The residents demanded that council come clean on the issue of income generating projects it owns.
It is reported that revenue from the projects is not being recorded leaving residents suspicious.
Recently, a council official was accused of selling timber without council knowledge.
“The income generating projects are not clear in the budget.
“Farm projects, timber sales and how estates account are perfoming is shrouded in obscurity in the budgets.
“Transparency, accountability, honesty should be the council’s mandate and in all their actions,” said the residents.
Efforts to get a comment from Nyamuzihwa were fruitless.
The letter was copied to provincial affairs Minister Apolonia Munzverengi and war veterans among other stakeholders.