News / National
Masvingo residents empty raw sewage inside council offices
12 Dec 2020 at 06:48hrs | Views
IRKED by their council's inaction in terms of managing the city's poor sewage system, a group of Masvingo residents Friday took a bucketful of raw sewer and went on to empty the contents at the local authority's office reception.
The protesters, numbering about 20 and operating under the Masvingo Residents Forum, accused the local authority of being one of the most corrupt in the country.
They demanded an explanation on why the city's main sewer line upgrade has not been completed despite the project being initiated a decade ago.
The project has so far gobbled millions of dollars in scarce foreign currency since inception.
As a result of the unfinished project, sewer bursts have become the order of the day in the city's residential areas.
To add insult to injury, the MDC Alliance dominated local authority takes days to attend to the complaints, with residents made to put up with raw sewage flowing freely in their homes.
Brighton Ramusi, who chairs the lobby group, said all they were demanding was transparency and accountability in the operations of the local authority as well as openness in terms of resource allocation.
"We are asking for accountability, for proof that it is indeed not misuse of funds and resources that has gotten us to the extremely bad situation that we find ourselves in as a city.
"There is growing belief that council management is misusing funds and resources resulting in the worsening of poor service delivery.
"This is not a fight against council; it's an ask for what it is due only," Ramusi said.
However, the protest did not end well for two of the Forum's members, Tamutswa Chikonyora and Margaret Chidhimba who got arrested after handing a petition to the city fathers.
Repeated efforts to get comment from council's public relations department were fruitless, as calls went unanswered.
The protesters, numbering about 20 and operating under the Masvingo Residents Forum, accused the local authority of being one of the most corrupt in the country.
They demanded an explanation on why the city's main sewer line upgrade has not been completed despite the project being initiated a decade ago.
The project has so far gobbled millions of dollars in scarce foreign currency since inception.
As a result of the unfinished project, sewer bursts have become the order of the day in the city's residential areas.
To add insult to injury, the MDC Alliance dominated local authority takes days to attend to the complaints, with residents made to put up with raw sewage flowing freely in their homes.
Brighton Ramusi, who chairs the lobby group, said all they were demanding was transparency and accountability in the operations of the local authority as well as openness in terms of resource allocation.
"We are asking for accountability, for proof that it is indeed not misuse of funds and resources that has gotten us to the extremely bad situation that we find ourselves in as a city.
"There is growing belief that council management is misusing funds and resources resulting in the worsening of poor service delivery.
"This is not a fight against council; it's an ask for what it is due only," Ramusi said.
However, the protest did not end well for two of the Forum's members, Tamutswa Chikonyora and Margaret Chidhimba who got arrested after handing a petition to the city fathers.
Repeated efforts to get comment from council's public relations department were fruitless, as calls went unanswered.
Source - newzimbabwe
