Mayor receives death threats

Newly-elected Chitungwiza mayor Phillip Mutoti has claimed he is receiving death threats.

"I am receiving death threats calls on my cellphone. The first one was during our budget consultative meetings while the most recent one was issued on Friday at 2016 hours after my court appearance," said the mayor.

"Iwewe ingoziva kuti tiri kuda kukuuraya," was the most recent threat sent to his mobile phone on Friday.
On Monday, Matthew Kamurai, Chitungwiza municipal policeman and Zanu PF member, was fined $100 after pleading guilty to perjury.

The St Mary's resident had reported to the police that Mutoti had assaulted him, and caused the mayor's arrest.

However, police investigations established that Mutoti was not present when Kamurayi was assaulted, leading to Kamurayi's arrest for deliberately supplying false information to the public authority.

Mutoti has been arrested twice since becoming mayor in what he views as malicious charges orchestrated by sitting  and former councillors with vested interests in the land allocation scams around Chitungwiza.

"I am merely effecting a ministerial directive issued before I came into office to the effect that 20 000 illegally acquired stands should be demolished," he told the Daily News.

He said the problem would be solved by removing the bins in areas where they cause discomfort to people.
Currently, the HCC has 47 refuse compactors for door-to-door garbage collection meaning that each of the 46 wards is allocated a vehicle for refuse removal.

Tendai Mahachi, the town clerk, said that the issue of dumpsites would be dealt with soon as council had sent a prospectus to government on their new idea for a landfill.

"If you have a proper landfill you now have gases that you take from below that can either be used as thermal energy to heat homes as is done in Europe or electrical energy which can be put on the Zesa grid and then generate revenue," Mahachi said.