(TALKZIMBABWE) MDC-T run Marondera Town Council faces collapse

MDC-T run Marondera Town Council faces collapse
Floyd Nkomo
Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:11:00 +0000

ANOTHER MDC-T run local authority, Marondera Town Council, faces collapse after mayor Clr Farai Nyandoro, faces allegations of corruption and gross mismanagement of council affairs.

This is the lastest in a string of mismanaged councils run by that party; including Harare City Council, Chitungwiza Town Council, Redcliff, among others. The news comes as the government has set up a team to investigate the MDC-T run Municipality of Chitungwiza.

Marondera becomes the fifth MDC-T run municipality to be investigated after the ministry sent teams to Chitungwiza, Bindura, Kadoma and Redcliff following similar corruption reports.

The MDC-T Marondera urban district executive has since written to the party leadership, raising its concerns and demanding urgent intervention to save the town from collapse.

Mayor Nyandoro, in turn, accuses the Marondera MDC-T party functionaries of gross interference in council affairs.

He has since written to Local Government, Urban and Rural Development Deputy Minister and MDC-T secretary for local government, Mr Sessel Zvidzai, raising his concerns.

The mayor has also written to Local Government, Urban and Rural Development Minister Ignatius Chombo, seeking assistance on the challenges facing Marondera town.

Deputy Minister Zvidzai on Friday confirmed that the MDC-T Marondera leadership and residents association had written to him raising concern over Mayor Nyandoro’s alleged failure to run the municipality professionally.

The MDC-T party, through a committee led by Hatfield legislator Tapiwa Mashakada, would soon visit Marondera to get first hand information on developments taking place in the Mashonaland East provincial capital, according to reports from the capital, Harare.

"The party’s district executive and residents association have approached me raising concerns over unsatisfactory service delivery. They are very unhappy with the level of service delivery there," said Zvidzai.

Charges against Mayor Nyandoro and his nine councillors include failure to pay employees salaries since September last year. Mayor Nyandoro is also accused of buying suits and mobile phones for his councillors.

The MDC-T Marondera leadership has accused authorities at the Marondera Municipality of employing their relatives amid revelations that one of the councillors recruited 21 relatives.