‘Councillors demand facilitation fee’: Call for more arrests to stamp out corruption

Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor

SKELETONS are tumbling out of their closets in Bulawayo with land developers contending that they have been living with the corrupt reality where they were supposed to cede 10 percent of the value of their contracts to the city councillors.

The revelation comes in the wake of a recent descending on Bulawayo City Council by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) which saw the arrest of Deputy Mayor Councillor Edwin Ndlovu and chairperson of the Finance Committee Clr Mpumelelo Moyo who were implicated in corrupt practices.

Contractors who spoke to Sunday News but asked not to be named urged Zacc to dig deeper into corruption allegations claiming that they have long contended with the corrupt nature of some city councillors, who have demanded bribes ranging from five percent to 10 percent of the value of their contracts.

Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc)

“It is just not this current crop of councillors but, for years, we’ve been forced to navigate a system where some councillors blatantly ask for ‘facilitation’ fees,” said a contractor, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

“They claim that without these payments, we wouldn’t secure favourable deals with the council.”

Another contractor shared a similar experience, stating, “It’s been a desperate situation. Many of us felt we had no choice but to pay these bribes just to keep our companies afloat.

The fear of being side-lined or losing contracts was overwhelming.

chairperson of the Finance Committee Clr Mpumelelo Moyo

“For example for housing contracts, they demand payment in the form of housing stands, where if I develop an area with 500 stands, I have to set aside 50 stands for those ‘influential’ councillors. Imagine all the money I would have used in developing the area, I just hand over 50 stands to someone so that I be able to get future deals with the local authority.”

The recent arrests have ignited a sense of hope among the contractors, who believe that a more transparent and fair contracting environment could soon emerge.

“This is a step in the right direction,” remarked one contractor.

“We’ve been calling for accountability for too long, and now it seems like the authorities are finally listening.”

The predicament is not faced by contractors only as some service providers have also raised a red flag revealing that councillors would intimidate them claiming that the service had been given the go-ahead through “their” influence.

“These councillors were now a huge problem. They were also demanding a cut from me on my case, claiming they were behind the council’s decision to approve the training. However, as a brother I didn’t want to get them into trouble, therefore I just ignored them.

“Fortunately for me, I knew the processes and that they were lying. So l just ignored them but they kept on calling, demanding 10 percent of what I had charged the local authority,” said the service provider.

A senior council employee further revealed that the councillors had also infiltrated the employment of critical staff, where they would demand bribes from interested individuals for senior positions in which they had a direct influence.

Councillor David Coltart

“There are certain positions within the local authority where councillors especially within the General Purposes have direct influence in terms of who takes up that position. For years it has been known that some councillors would get kickbacks to endorse some names.

“As is, the process of looking for a new Town Clerk is set to start, we understand a lot of canvassing has already started, this is a culture that has been going on for years unabated, ask anyone within council chambers and they will confirm this,” said the senior staffer.

These sentiments reflect a broader frustration with systemic corruption that has hampered development and fair competition in Bulawayo.

Speaking at the launch of the Mayor’s Christmas Cheer Fund last week, Bulawayo Mayor, Clr David Coltart said council agreed to adopt a zero-tolerance approach against corruption.

“Unfortunately, as you know, two of my fellow councillors have been arrested on charges of corruption, I am deeply concerned about the matter. I have said our policy is to adopt a zero-tolerance approach towards corruption.

“I do not know the facts behind the matter, we will let the law take its course, all I want to say is that from my perspective — and I know I enjoy the support of the vast majority of our members of staff and councillors — is that we will jointly adopt that approach and we will give whatever information is required by the authorities to stamp out corruption in our midst,” said Clr Coltart.

The city’s residents have also expressed concern about the goings-on in the council chambers noting this could see the city repelling potential investors.

Bulawayo United Residents Association (Bura) chairperson, Mr Winos Dube said as residents they were disappointed and disheartened that the very people they had entrusted with the running of the city’s affairs were the very people who were pulling it back.

Bulawayo United Residents Association (Bura) chairperson, Mr Winos Dube

“To some of us who have lived in this beautiful city for decades, we ask ourselves why is it at the turn of the millennium that we are now getting all these unfortunate issues of corruption. Are we seconding the right people to run the city for us, people who are there to serve the city and not their personal interests?

“We should all look at the long-term effects of what is happening — be it true or not — but we are being backwards, this is what investors look at and with such corruption reports they will certainly shun investing in our city and this will see our economy not improving,” said Mr Dube.

He noted that the Bulawayo City Council now stands at a crossroads, with the potential for reform hanging in the balance as Zacc continues with its efforts to root out corruption and restore integrity to the council’s operations.

The Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA), in a statement, said as an organisation, they strongly condemn any form of corruption, as it hinders sustainable development within communities and violates the principles of good governance.

“Firstly, we commend the individuals or organisation that reported this matter to the commission. We also appreciate the commission for taking prompt action. As an organization, BPRA strongly condemns any form of corruption, as it hinders sustainable development within our communities and violates the principles of good governance.

“BPRA calls for ethical leadership among elected officials, with an emphasis on integrity, transparency in land allocation to prevent land corruption by officials and protection of whistle-blowers in this case and transparency in handling the matter. BPRA urges Zacc to release a report detailing its findings on the matter. We hope that the issue will be handled with the utmost integrity,” reads the statement.