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Freedom Mupanedemo Midlands Bureau
Kwekwe residents have rejected moves by the local authority to review upwards its $26,9 million budget which the city fathers say has since been eroded by inflation. Kwekwe Rate Payers Association secretary general Mr Alex Homela said they have since written to the Acting town Clerk Mrs Lucia Mkhandla seeking a meeting.

“They have since agreed to meet us as representatives of the Kwekwe city rate payers.
“What we want to know from the council management is the proposed supplementary budget figure and how they come up with that figure, they can’t just wake up and say they are going to meet the residents with the new supplementary budget before we agree on the figures,’ he said.

Mr Homela said the residents were caught unaware in the last budget after the city fathers approved the new budget without the residents’ input.

“We were shocked by the new 2019 budget, and while we are still to come to terms with the new tariffs, the local authority now wants to review it further upwards. It’s absurd,” he said.

Mr Homela said the majority of residents were still struggling to pay the new tariffs and the supplementary budget was likely to further burden them.

“We are struggling, we don’t have money to service our council bills, it means the newly proposed supplementary budget will put more strain on the residents,” he said.

Kwekwe Mayor, Councillor Angeline Kasipo recently said the local authority will soon be going to the people to get their input over the new supplementary budget.

She said the local authority will this time engage the residents before the new budget is approved.
Under the current tariffs, residents are paying between $15 and $19 as fixed charges. According to the 2019 tariff schedule, Kwekwe City Council had increased refuse collection charges from the $2 to $3 for those in the high density suburbs while those in low density suburbs were parting with at least $5 up from the initial $2.