The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Senior Municipal Reporter
SIX Bulawayo City Council (BCC) officials have been arrested for demanding bribes from residents to avoid having their water disconnected, it has been learnt.
The six who are part of the local authority’s water disconnecting unit will soon be facing disciplinary action as council works towards fighting corruption. BCC in November last year embarked on a water disconnection blitz to recover millions of dollars owed to it by defaulting rate payers.
It has since emerged that some unscrupulous teams take advantage of desperate residents by demanding bribes to avoid being disconnected. They reportedly take advantage of a loophole where they are required to leave a notice of intent to disconnect whenever they find a property locked.
The local authority’s senior public relations officer, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu, confirmed the latest developments noting that while at times they got reports of their officials demanding bribes, most officials were not forthcoming with the necessary information for them to conduct investigations
“Yes, a number of reports have been received, although we have had some challenges from residents not availing full information to allow for the investigations to take place. To date six of our officials are due to be dealt with in terms of the code of conduct,” said Mrs Mpofu.
Despite the conduct of their officials the council spokesperson revealed that they had recorded a significant increase of revenue inflows since they started the blitz. She further encouraged residents to pay the little they have towards their bills so as to avoid being disconnected.
“So far, our teams have disconnected supplies in parts of ward 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, ward 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18 and 28. As for collections they have improved with an increase of 37 percent since November 2019,” said Mrs Mpofu.
In a notice flighted by the Town Clerk, Mr Christopher Dube, the local authority warned residents against paying council officials bribes noting that the officials were not permitted to request, accept or receive an inducement not to carry out their duties of disconnecting supplies from residents.
“Bribery results in double loss by the customer as council will still insist on debt recovery even after payment of bribes. Staff members are also instructed to report clients who offer such inducement or bribes. This will allow council to investigate and to institute criminal charges against such clients. The valuable information you supply is strictly confidential.
“Offering or demanding a bribe is a criminal offence which may result in both parties being arrested and charged by the courts. You can have the peace of mind of having constant supply of water and other services if you keep your account up to date or enter into and abide by the payment plan,” said Mr Dube.
Meanwhile, according to the latest council report the local authority is owed a total of $183 286 477 with residents owing the biggest amount of $99 181 595. Industrial and commerce owe; $74 488 276, parastatals and self-financing ministries owe; $5 235 593 and Government debtors owe; $4 381 013.
