adminMidlands Reporter
GWERU residents are demanding that the city council top management make their salaries public and prove that they are not earning obscene perks like their counterparts in Harare.
The residents said they were seeking answers to the city’s poor service delivery.
This comes amid investigations by the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing into the salaries of all top management officials in councils across the country.
Japheth Madzvamuse from Mkoba Village 19 said the salaries of town clerks and all the heads of department at the civic centre should be made public.
He said there was not much development in the city yet residents continued to pay rates.
“We pay rates but what is disturbing is that our roads are full of potholes and the council is even failing to collect refuse in certain areas including the CBD.
“Top management salaries should be revealed to us because we have to know where the money we are paying is going,” said Madzvamuse.
A city council employee who declined to be named expressed displeasure at the failure by management to regularly pay workers their salaries.
The employee said at times they go for months without pay while top management purchase new cars at their expense.
“We see our bosses in new cars at a time when they are telling us the council has no money to pay us our salaries. When they eventually pay us, it will be peanuts,” said the disgruntled employee.
Tapiwa Zulu of Ascot said as residents and ratepayers, they had a right to know what council management was getting in salaries and perks.
He said the foreign currency regime does not allow room for extravagance, hence every cent in the council coffers should be accounted for.
Said Zulu: “The top management should remember that we are their paymasters because we pay rates. We want to be certain that our money is not being wasted ahead of service delivery. Government should send an audit team to help us establish the facts surrounding the council wage bill.”
Simiso Sibanda also from Ascot said the council books should be audited by external auditors.
She said: “Investigators should be called in to address the issue of salaries within the council so as to probe all corruption and we need results as soon as possible.”
Gweru Residents and Ratepayers’ Association chairperson Cornelius Selipiwe said the city council should comply with residents’ request since other top local authority managers had their salaries revealed by the local media.
He said the city council should be transparent and accountable when dealing with residents.
Selipiwe, however, said his association was still to engage the city council over the issue of revealing their salaries.
“We are yet to meet as an association. We need to discuss whether the council should reveal its salaries or not,” said Selipiwe.
Ward 4 Councillor, Clr Kenneth Sithole acknowledged that the council had already submitted a salary schedule to the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Dr Ignatius Chombo.
“It is our hope that Minister Chombo will reveal the salaries of top management to the public, if there is need to,” he said.
The salary schedule was said to have been handed to Dr Chombo by City Mayor, Clr Hamutendi Kombayi.
Online Reporter