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Mayor Hubert Fidze

Masvingo Bureau
Scores of placard-waving residents surrounded Masvingo City Council’s Civic Centre offices last Friday to protest alleged maladministration and corruption by officials.The members of the Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Association (Murra) first marched through the city centre before converging at the Civic Centre and blocked the entrance to the mayor and town clerk’s offices.

They demanded audience with the Mayor, Councillor Hubert Fidze, who was not around, and vowed to stay put until he addressed them.
Town clerk Mr Adolph Gusha tried to talk to the restive residents, but they accused him of being part of the rot.

However, later in the day they had all dispersed of their own accord, with Murra chair Alderman Naison Tsere and other association leaders going into a meeting with Mr Gusha.

Tsere handed Mr Gusha a list of residents’ grievances, chief of which was a demand that council reclaim road equipment and more than 40 vehicles sitting idle at the Messenger of Court’s premises.

The property was attached in December 2012 when council lost a salaries court case brought by workers.

Murra also expressed anger that officials would not disclose their salaries; while also demanding that council stop paying some managers who stay in municipal houses a claimed US$1 000 each in housing allowances.

Residents slammed council’s failure to build sanitary facilities at Chitima Market, and asked to know why the city hired a private company to police the market instead of deploying municipal officers.