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Freedom Mupanedemo Midlands Bureau
Kwekwe City Council is set to splash thousands of dollars on an imported mayoral vehicle after councillors rejected a proposal to buy a cheaper locally-assembled one. According to full council minutes seen by The Herald, the local authority — in consultation with the mayor Councillor Matenda Madzoke — had initially opted for a locally-assembled BAIC model that is cheaper.

According to the minutes, the financially hamstrung local authority had indicated that there were no funds to buy a foreign assembled vehicle due to foreign currency concerns. The councillors who barred the mayor from contributing to the discussion on the purchase of the mayoral vehicle, shot down the idea of a cheaper model and proposed that council buys an Isuzu twin cab.

“To that effect, the meeting suggest that the council has no foreign currency to buy a foreign assembled vehicle and should buy a Willowvale Motor Industries assembled BAIC model as the mayoral vehicle,” read part of the minutes.

A councillor who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “Yes, we agreed that for a big city like Kwekwe, we can’t have a vehicle from BAIC for the mayor. If they want that for the municipal police or other services like pool cars for sewer and reticulation services, then yes,” said the councillor.

“This is what we agreed in our last full council meeting.”

The councillor said Clr Madzoke, who has been insisting on service delivery ahead of a mayoral vehicle, had agreed to go for a cheaper BAIC as the mayoral car, but the councillors rejected the idea.

“In that full council meeting, we were clear that the mayor should not interfere with the purchase of a mayoral vehicle,” said the councillor. “We said we wanted a car that gives our council some dignity.”

Clr Madzoke confirmed yesterday that the council had resolved to buy an Isuzu model ahead of a BAIC as the mayoral vehicle.

“When it comes to the mayoral vehicle, there was a resolution that the councillors passed,” he said. “I was asked not to interfere in the issue.”