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Lovemore Kadzura
Rusape Correspondent
THIRTEEN newly elected Rusape Town councillors were today sworn in to start their term of office in a town where service delivery is at its lowest ebb due to endless scandals.
Makoni District Development Coordinator, Mr Edwin Mashindi presided over the swearing in of the councillors, but did not sanction the election of the chairman and vice, saying there is a directive from the parent ministry for councillors to first undergo an induction workshop before they allocate each other positions and committees.
Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has nine elected councillors, while Zanu PF has one, but grabbed all the three women’s quota after CCC failed to submit their list to Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
Alderman Clever Chimuse of Zanu PF is now into his third straight term.
Rusape is marred by serious infighting which has created a toxic working environment at the town house.
A number of senior executives are in and out of the courts facing several corruption allegations and the new council is expected to bring order and stability.
There is also the residential stands racket scandal that has seen council employees conniving with outsiders to sell undeveloped stands to unsuspecting buyers without the knowledge of stand owners and council. Stands valued at over US$500 000 were allegedly sold by the suspects.
Rusape has ran out of land for expansion amid demand for housing and commercial stands.
The ownership wrangle of Zimati Kop Farm between the local authority and Diagonal Investments fronted by Mr Norman Sachikonye has been dragging on for over a decade now.
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