Online Reporter
Lovemore Kadzura
Post Reporter
THE Parliament of Zimbabwe, through its Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, today (Friday) begins a two-day fact-finding mission into Chipinge Town Council following a petition by residents raising concerns over governance and service delivery.
The petition, submitted to the House of Assembly, accused the council of poor management and inadequate service provision.
In response, Parliament last year summoned the council chairman, management, and petitioners to provide oral evidence on the allegations. In a notice, Parliament said the mission aims to gather public views on governance, financial management, and service delivery practices at Chipinge Town Council. The probe will also examine the council’s billing and rate-setting framework, as well as the ownership and disposal of council properties.
Today (Friday), the committee will meet councillors and management before holding a public hearing at Chipinge Primary School.
Tomorrow (Saturday), the delegation will tour sporting facilities, including Chipinge Golf Course and Swimming Pool, and assess the council’s revenue-generating properties.
The mission will conclude with inspections of the council’s agricultural assets.
Lead petitioner, Mr Godwill Mlambo said residents are hopeful Parliament’s intervention will provide lasting solutions to the challenges facing the local authority.
“As residents, we are happy that Parliament is coming to verify what we wrote in our petition. We went for a hearing at Parliament in October 2025. Now they are coming on the ground to see for themselves what we highlighted. We expect them to use these findings to find a way forward so that Chipinge will start ticking again.
“At the moment we have a lot of challenges such as the budget formulation and consultation process. The issue of billing and rates are not up to standard. We want them to see the state of infrastructure especially roads which are very bad. There are some areas which are not accessible.
“Public amenities such as the swimming pool and the golf course which resulted in Chipinge being granted town status in 2022 are no longer there. We do not know whether we are still a town or we are regressing into a growth point,” he said.
Chipinge council chairman, Councillor Kingston Dhlumo said they welcome the probe as it will expose the petitioners’ as some of the allegations are wild.
He said the petition does not represent the views of all residents, but a few ones.
“We welcome the Parliament’s visit because it is just three or so residents who have a history of fighting council management. The fights started when I was not in council. They have their issues, and they also approached the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe several times in the past.
“Their petition does not represent the whole of Chipinge as there are residents’ associations who have disassociated themselves from this petition At least Parliament will get fist had information from residents who do not have a bone to chew. We do not have anything to hide,” he said.
