Residents want Bulawayo council to publish its monthly revenue and expenditure

Bulawayo residents have demanded that the city council publishes its monthly revenue and expenditure in order for ratepayers to gain an actual reflection of the financial position prevailing in the local authority.

Residents say council often complains about low revenue inflows without showing the true state of affairs. Lydia Mabhena told Radio Dialogue that as ratepayers they feel shortchanged by the local authority’s failure to improve on service delivery yet continue to hide behind financial constraints.

“Honestly, we don’t understand how all the money we pay is used. I think the city council should show us their monthly collections and how that particular amount is used,” said Mabhena.

She further urged council to be transparent with ratepayers’ money. Another resident Nomusa Ndlovu shared a similar view and accused the local authority of failing to prioritise service delivery.

She said: “Council is not doing enough. It is not fair for the officials to claim that the funds are insufficient, if that is the case they need to update us on a monthly basis about their financial status…”

Ndlovu said residents feel that their funds are being used to pay council managers huge salaries. Meantime, residents have urged council to come up with long term solutions to curb water problems facing the city. The city has been put under 96-hour water rationing per week.

Efforts to get a comment from the city’s publicity department were fruitless.