Council resolves to buy Hillside mayoral house

THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) wants to buy a house for the mayor in the leafy suburb of Hillside, a move city fathers claim received Cabinet approval in 1997 but had stalled due to lack of funds.

Mayor, Councillor Martin Moyo will however have to wait until next year to know whether he will occupy the house as councillors have said the funding for the project has not been provided for in the 2017 budget.

The local authority recently revived the 1997 resolution to buy the mayoral house.

According to the resolution the incumbent mayor will occupy the house and vacate it after the expiry of his term.

According to the latest council report, the local authority identified the house in Hillside whose going price is $120 000.

"Council on 7 May 1997 resolved to construct a mayoral residence. This was after cabinet had approved construction of mayoral residences as a policy. The city went on to identify a site in Selbourne Park suburb and the requisite building plans were prepared.

"However, the project has not taken off due to lack of funds. This project had been held in abeyance for a long time," noted the council report.

According to the report, management has been tasked to find a house for use by the mayor and any future mayors of the city.

The resources to buy the house have not been provided for in the 2017 budget which means the house can only be bought in 2018.

"A preliminary search with reputable Estate Agents had yielded some positive results. A house in  Hillside suburb has been identified and its purchase price is $120 000," reads part of the report.

Council officials from the Housing and Community Services department while acknowledging that funding for the project has not been provided for in the 2017 budget, put forward a recommendation that the purchase goes ahead by virementing funds from other accounts.

Funds that were targeted for virementing were for the upgrade of Bulawayo swimming pool ($100 000) and refurbishment of White City Stadium ($100 000).

In the ensuing debate councillors endorsed the purchase of the mayoral house yesterday as per the original recommendation but felt that council first looks at their financial standing and consider including it in the 2018 budget projections.

"In response the acting director of Housing and Community Services explained that it was a massive project which would take time and council would benefit from the investment. Currently property prices were reasonable and council could take advantage of the situation.

"However the Finance and Development Committee felt that the city's financial position was not able to support such an investment at this stage. The committee cited council's creditors and service delivery shortfalls as some of the factors that made such an investment untimely," reads the report.

In 2011 the local authority attracted the wrath of residents and activists after they approved the purchase of a luxury vehicle for former mayor, Clr Thaba Moyo. The vehicle- a Dodge Chrysler — saw council parting with $65 000.

Senior council officials during the same year also got loans to buy top of the range vehicles.