By Wisdom Mumera
The Harare City Council has approached the Joint Operations Command (JOC) to assist it in collection of rentals at its Mupedzanhamo and Coca Cola vending sites.
The City’s Mayor Herbert Gomba said they had been trying to collect revenue but have so far failed leading to poor revenue collection percentages.
Resultantly the City Fathers have sought to rope in JOC, a body comprising of senior officials from the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) which is responsible for the coordination of state security in Zimbabwe.
“We are raising concerns in terms of space barons who are preventing Council from collecting from certain parts of these facilities we have since asked JOC to help us and are waiting for their response”, he said responding to journalists.
Most of the space barons at Mupedzanhamo and Coca Cola, along Chitungwiza road, are renowned ZANU PF members who over time have created a mafia-like control of systems at these places resulting in Council failing to access any rentals from vendors there.
Council auditors have repeatedly noted how Council is failing to diligently collect its dues from lease holders and those renting its premises due to a variety of factors.
Currently it is owed nearly a billion RTGs.
Mayor Gomba said, “government owes us $30 million, churches $20 million and citizens $590 million”.
However due to their lacking a billing system the collection of these monies has also become a problem.
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