Bulawayo spurns ZNA donation request

BULAWAYO city fathers recently turned down a request by the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) to sponsor its family fun-day shooting competition, citing financial challenges, a council report reveals.

Latest council minutes show that Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) Commander Philip Valerio Sibanda in May wrote to council to sponsor, in cash or kind, some categories of the shooting competitions.

The inaugural family fun-day shooting event is scheduled for July 27 at the Bulawayo District Gallery Range. According to the minutes, city fathers cited a financial squeeze as the reason for failure to support the ZNA financially or otherwise for the shooting competitions.

"In consultation with the financial director [Kempton Ndimande], it was noted that council was unable to provide sponsorship due to lack of funds and the harsh economic environment it was operating in," the minutes read.

"It was, therefore, resolved that the request for sponsorship by the commander Bulawayo District be not acceded to due to financial constraints."

The ZNA is not the first State organ whose request for sponsorship has been turned down.

In a letter to council, Sibanda had requested the local authority to sponsor one or more of the shooting competition categories for the day.