Staff Reporter
A Kwekwe City full council meeting held on Thursday starting at 1400hours erupted into a heated debate that spilled into the early hours of Friday morning around 1am, with councilors demanding answers from management over the implementation of a city parking system allegedly without the council’s formal approval.
Last week, Kwekwe City Council introduced a new parking system, with a fee of US$1 per hour, applicable across most streets and open spaces in the Central Business District.
Initially Emmerson Mnangagwa and Nelson Mandela had prepaid parking but now a major part of the Central Business District is a pay zone, however, councilors claimed they were unaware of the decision, insisting they had only authorized management to conduct research on how a parking system could be managed, including hiring attendants and opening a separate bank account for handling parking fees.
During the meeting, Councillor Alex Senge, chairperson of the Finance Committee, asked to be recused from the matter, stating that the implementation had occurred without his knowledge.
““I only know of five parking attendants operating from Emmerson Mnangagwa and Nelson Mandela Street, those 35 all over town I am not aware of. On this matter please recuse me as finance chair. As a councilor representing the people I chaired a meeting on Thursday last week during finance committee sitting, we debated about opening an account for city parking and there was no resolution to that effect. From the 8th of August 2024 when we held the meeting to today I am surprised that city parking was implemented and as councilors we are questioning why it was rushed. The issue is in the minutes that we are supposed to be recommending to the full council today so that we can be given the green light but its already implemented. My question is why was it rushed from the 8th of August 2024 without a resolution. We can not let this issue pass and I ask the director of finance to clarify that,” said Senge,” Senge said.
He said that the issue had not been resolved in the last finance committee meeting, held on August 8, 2024 and questioned why the parking system had been rushed without a formal resolution.
Deputy Mayor Janet Ticharunga, who chairs the Human Resources Committee, questioned the process of hiring parking attendants.
“I want to know when the adverts for employment were flighted. According to this house, city park is not yet functional, so we need to know when the advert will be flighted so that we can also communicate with interested members of the community currently looking for employment,” she said.
Ward 8 Councillor Makomborere Mlambo echoed the same concerns, asking, “Deputy Mayor, you chair the Human Resources Committee. Did you resolve to employ the 35 attendants? When was the advert placed, with what deadline, and what was the criteria or qualifications used?”
The acting Director of Finance, Mr. Simbi, declined to comment on the matter in the full council meeting, prompting further frustration from the councilors.
Ward 10 Councillor Solomon Matsa called for the matter to be treated as a criminal case, following Simbi’s refusal to provide answers. “We should make this issue a police case. We cannot be in a situation where people use council money, implement things, and come here to tell us they cannot answer questions,” Matsa said.
“We need transparency, and if it is not there, we need to take action and involve the police. We can not allow this as a country to happen under our watch,” he said.
Mlambo supported Matsa’s call for punitive measures, stressing the need for accountability. “I support the call for punitive measures as made by Councilllor Matsa. Let us involve the police we just want transparency it does not mean we hate each other. We need to know who bought the gadgets for ticketing, from which coffers, for how much and these 35 recruited attendants are being paid by who. I do not remember us making such a resolution. We can not be having officials who are not answerable to councilors and the people, everything we do in council should be by the book” he said.
Councillor Kudakwashe Gwamuri voiced concerns over the potential impact of the new parking system on the relationship between the council and residents.
“This has serious ramifications in the community. Residents were not notified; they only woke up to realize they had to pay for parking. As councilors, we are inundated with calls from residents, but we have no answers as well. I was surprised to see an attendant in town requesting that I pay for parking in a street not previously marked as such. My question still stand was this budgeted for and how did we get from researching to implementation?,” Gwamuri said.
Mayor Albert Zinhanga suggested there was confusion about its implementation and reiterated what Senge had said that the only parking attendants council knows about were the five operating in the two streets.
“There is no such thing as city park, Councillor Gwamuri, as the Finance Chair has said. Maybe you just met someone with a bib walking, or he/she is part of the five parking attendants that Councillor Senge was referring to. So lets just say those operating are the five already employed to do that in the two streets,” Zinhanga said.
Councillor Msipa said as councilors they needed simple answers on why city parking was implemented in a rush and what criteria was used to employ attendants.
Acting Town Clerk John Mhike argued that the council had, in fact, agreed to the parking system in a special full council meeting.
He also warned councilors against making misleading statements and calling for punitive measures.
“There was a special full council which was held, and all those present unanimously agreed that city parking was necessary and it was adopted. The chairman (Senge) made the presentation and it was agreed on so do not say statements that are misleading. So if we are talking about arrest who should be arrested here? We said let us research and implement according to President Emmerson Mnangagwas call to action,” Mhike said.
Mayor Zinhanga conceded that while the council had agreed on the need for city parking, questions remained over the specifics of its implementation.
“We all agreed on city parking, but the question is on modalities of implementation. There are grey areas that need clarity, and I advise that we refer this issue back to the Human Resources Committee,” he said.
