ONLY two out of 29 Bulawayo councillors have heeded the
call by residents to declare their assets.
The call to declare the assets was made by the Bulawayo
Progressive Residents’ Association (BPRA) in September to help fight corruption
involving public officials.
Councillor Arnold Batirai Dube of ward 24, and Rodney Jele
of ward 22, yesterday declared their assets at a meeting held at Nkulumane
Hall.
BPRA acting co-ordinator Emmanuel Ndlovu said the two had
taken the bold step and declared their assets in writing.
“The two councillors declared their assets and handed the
declaration forms to us. They said the party (MDC Alliance)changed position not
to announce their assets until December. We don’t know the reason behind that,”
he said.
“This move will help fight corruption and most councillors
come in when they have nothing, but after two or three years, they will be
owning a lot of assets. We hope it will have a knock-on effect on corruption
and that this move will escalate to Cabinet ministers and the President
himself.”
Ndlovu said assets and interest registers were not a new
practice, having been previously implemented in countries such as South Africa
and Rwanda. Newsday
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