The Sunday News
Peter Matika, Senior Reporter
FUNERAL parlours in Bulawayo are alleging corruption between the Social Welfare department and certain parlours in Harare saying pauper burials have been carried out by parlours from the capital for the last three years.
Speaking on behalf of funeral parlours, Funeral Undertakers Services Association (Fusa) executive member Mr Charles Juwake alleged that some people within the department of Social Welfare in Bulawayo had links with funeral parlours in Harare, and were awarding them burial tenders from Government hospitals in the Southern region of the country.
“It is just questionable how Harare parlours are awarded these tenders, yet we have parlours that are fully licensed and have the capacity to handle such tenders. We have serviced such tenders before but now it raises questions as to why we are being sidelined,” said Mr Juwake, who is also the director of Exodus Funeral Services.
“We don’t have any measures to sort this issue out but to complain to various offices hoping they will hear our plea. This has greatly affected our operations and we are finding it difficult to remain in business. Since this began, some of us have had to retrench workers,” said Mr Juwake.
He also claimed that they applied for licences every year to the procurement board to acquire tenders but were told to wait for their turn, which never comes.
“We suspect there is corruption within some of these offices and investigations should be launched. We apply for licences every year, which are just kept in drawers and we find it very queer that Harare parlours come all the way from that region to offer services in our territory,” said Mr Juwake.
He said as stakeholders in the region they had a role to play and have also been working with various residents associations, where they partner each other in assisting in burials of the less privileged.
Mr Juwake also said they had since raised their concerns with the Bulawayo Residents’ Association (Bura).
Bura chairperson Mr Winos Dube confirmed having received such a report, saying that they would soon take it up with the relevant ministry.
“We are soon to engage relevant ministries as appointments have been done. Basically it is perplexing how Bulawayo service providers are sidelined, yet they service the city and the entire southern region. They ought to be considered and awarded first priority. It is not fair for them to be sidelined like this yet they have assisted various communities for many years,” said Mr Dube.
He noted that there had been several meetings about the issue. The Ministry of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare could not be reached for comment.
@peterkmatika
