News / National
Zec late payment riles vehicle owners
26 Sep 2023 at 06:19hrs | Views
Private vehicle owners have lodged complaints against the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) for failing to compensate them after hiring their vehicles for the recent election.
These vehicles were contracted through the government's Central Mechanical and Equipment Department (CMED) at a daily rate of US$152.
A vehicle owner, who chose to remain anonymous, expressed dissatisfaction with the delayed payment, stating, "Zec hired our vehicles to transport voting materials, including ballot papers, to various polling stations. However, Zec has not honored its commitment to compensate us for the work we performed. They assured us that payment would be made once the voting process concluded, but as of now, no payment has been received. We were directed to inquire with CMED, which claims it has not received payment either."
CMED's General Manager, Stephen Mavhura, explained that they are currently in the process of compiling information regarding the number of vehicles used during the election.
"We are still in the process of generating invoices that must be forwarded to Zec for payment. There is a reconciliation process that needs to be completed, and we have reached an agreement on this matter. Several administrative steps, starting from the district and provincial offices, must be followed before payments can be processed," Mavhura stated.
Zec's Chief Elections Officer, Utloile Silaigwana, assured NewsDay that they are actively working on settling these outstanding debts.
"Treasury has allocated sufficient funds to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to cover the costs of goods and services that were required for the successful conduct of the harmonized elections on August 23, 2023. The Commission anticipates clearing all outstanding debts related to this matter in the near future," Silaigwana confirmed.
These vehicles were contracted through the government's Central Mechanical and Equipment Department (CMED) at a daily rate of US$152.
A vehicle owner, who chose to remain anonymous, expressed dissatisfaction with the delayed payment, stating, "Zec hired our vehicles to transport voting materials, including ballot papers, to various polling stations. However, Zec has not honored its commitment to compensate us for the work we performed. They assured us that payment would be made once the voting process concluded, but as of now, no payment has been received. We were directed to inquire with CMED, which claims it has not received payment either."
"We are still in the process of generating invoices that must be forwarded to Zec for payment. There is a reconciliation process that needs to be completed, and we have reached an agreement on this matter. Several administrative steps, starting from the district and provincial offices, must be followed before payments can be processed," Mavhura stated.
Zec's Chief Elections Officer, Utloile Silaigwana, assured NewsDay that they are actively working on settling these outstanding debts.
"Treasury has allocated sufficient funds to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to cover the costs of goods and services that were required for the successful conduct of the harmonized elections on August 23, 2023. The Commission anticipates clearing all outstanding debts related to this matter in the near future," Silaigwana confirmed.
Source - newsday
