Bulawayo has no title deeds to City Hall, Tower Block

THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) does not have title deeds to some of its important assets such as the City Hall, Tower Block and dams, among others, an official has said.

Title deeds are important legal documents used as evidence of proof of ownership of a home or piece of land.

Addressing residents at the council's financial performance review meeting yesterday, financial director, Kimpton Ndimande said the issue of tittle deeds needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

"We do have an asset register, but not in the manner the Auditor General would like it. Let me give an example of this building (the City Hall building) should be on our asset register, but we do not have the title deeds to this building, but it's ours," Ndimande said.

"Tower Block, we also do not have the title deeds to the Tower Block (building) but it's ours and when it is on the asset register, it should have a specific reference number, which in this case should be the title deed. So these are the technical issues that affect the quality of the asset register…..," he said.

Ndimande said council has a lot of assets that are council-specific, for instance the roads, but it was difficult to put value on the roads "but we are working together as councillors to register assets".

Ndimande added that they were currently in the process of getting title deeds for these assets.

Residents expressed dismay over the issue, saying council might lose important assets.