Kasukuwere claim probe unearthed absurdity at Gweru council

Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has claimed that the investigations by the committee at the Gweru Council established a lot of absurdity which exposed that the water account was was not ring fenced as per ministerial directive.

Speaking in parliament Kasukuwere said  the investigations unearthed a lot of irregularities, if not absurdities which included inter alia: that the water account (which is one of the main source of funds for a council), was not ring fenced as per ministerial directive.

He said this means that instead of channeling all water revenues towards improving water supply and its quality to Gweru residents, councilors and management would channel it towards their own self-aggrandisement.

"The audit also unearthed delays in billing and other anomalies.  The sum total of all this was that council was sitting on non-revenue-water of more than 30%, which means, of all treated and pumped water, council could, on a daily basis, account for 30% of its water," Kasukuwere said.  "This, together with dwindling revenue inflows and crippling strikes by employees due to non-payment of salaries and in a bid to strengthen and plug both financial and real water leakages in the council's water account, a water audit was recommended as a strategy to unearth the leakages, inefficiencies, real and apparent losses and proffer solutions to the same."

Kasukuwere said the City of Gweru then floated an informal tender, which was duly advertised in national papers as per statutes.

"The tender was open to the public and it closed on the 8th of January, 2016, at 12pm.  Tenders were opened immediately thereafter in the presence of bidders who chose to attend.  The council's procurement committee then evaluated the tenders and it was awarded to Zimbabwe Innovative Technologies (ZIMIT), which was the most responsive according to specifications," he said.

"The preliminary water audit findings to date has identified more than 3000 illegal connections, various properties that are not on the council's billing platform, more than 15000 non-functional meters and a proliferation of unprotected wells doted all over the City, to name a few.  The audit has also unearthed stands and other properties that have been created and parceled out illegally and such properties are not on council's database while at the same time, drawing water from council's water distribution system illegally."

Kasukuwere said as a consequence of the incremental adjustments being done to council's systems based on the preliminary findings, council's water revenue base is widening and there is improved recovery and water supply is on the mend.

"The Ministry would want to put it on record that Engineer V. Choga is one of the employees and Director of ZIMIT according to the company profile of ZIMIT and is neither a shareholder of ZIMIT nor is he related to Mark Choga, who is one of the members of the caretaker commission running the affairs of the City of Gweru," Kasukuwere said.

"The Ministry will not be deterred from taking corrective action on all the unearthed irregularities at the City of Gweru and will not rest on its laurels until sanctity prevails at the City of Gweru.  We will also hasten to say that no amount of threat or malicious reporting will impede our drive to ensure that Gweru residents are protected from unfair treatment and we will not rest until quality services are availed to all the residents of Gweru."