When Coltart assumed office, he submitted this request in
order to combat corruption within the local authority and to enable lifestyle
audits in order to expose those who may seek to use their positions to amass
wealth illegally.
According to sources who spoke to CITE on the condition of
anonymity, some councillors have refused to comply with the mayor’s call
claiming they were not consulted, prompting residents to speculate and come up
with ‘various theories’ as to why some were refusing.
“Some even fear that Coltart may be overthrown by the
councillors who are refusing to comply while others councilors have signed the
asset declaration forms,” said one the sources within council.
As part of compliance, the source said councilors must
simply report the assets they own so that at the end of their term, it can be
determined whether the assets they purchased represent what they may have
obtained over a single term of office.
“This is to curb corruption among duty bearers and holders
of public offices because there is no way you can run council without knowing
who owns what,” said the source.
“For example, under normal circumstances and given our
current economic situation, it is not possible to have acquired two or three
houses in a space of one term of office.”
The source said their duty as councilors was to protect the
city and its resources.
“Some of the assets that people have, actually show that
one assumed office with the intention of protecting the city and to improve its
state. There has always been an outcry from residents that it is important for
public office holders to declare their assets so that people can be assured the
person they voted for has good intentions of protecting peoples’ interests and
pushing Bulawayo forward,” said the source.
The point of dispute among councillors is that some are
refusing to cooperate, claiming they were not consulted, and are accusing
Coltart of “being a dictator.”
“There are now allegations that Cllr Coltart is a dictator
who is doing things without consulting other councillors. This adds on to
allegations that Cllr Coltart also dictated who was to be acting mayor while he
was away on leave. However all these procedures were above board as they were
openly discussed in a council meeting where the constitution was quoted and
councillors voted,” the source said.
Sources also claimed that more allegations had risen that
the mayor had a private meeting with representatives of Terracota Company
regarding the Egodini project whose minutes are unknown.
“The Egodini project was signed back in 2015 and started
around 2020 so we really don’t understand where these allegations are coming
from,” said one of the sources.
“We are concerned that if such issues persist, disgruntled
councillors may actually overthrow the mayor, which is something that we do not
want in our council. We do not want all the councilors to be painted with one
brush for defying what the mayor said. There is a clique of councilors that are
dragging their feet and now every other councilor is affected.”
The Bulawayo City Council had not formally responded to
questions emailed to them by the time this article was published. CITE
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