Cllrs block stinking $780 000 valuation roll deal

… cllrs recuse themselves, 12 remain at the end

By ALBERT MASAKA

FIREWORKS erupted during yesterday’s special meeting where Chitungwiza  councillors blocked a tender for the town’s valuation roll exercise that was controversially awarded to Grosbrook Real Estate accusing the under fire  acting town clerk Japson Nemuseso and his managers of not following due process.

According to sources, the councillors also queried the amount of $780 000 that council had agreed to pay Grosbrook, which they believe was  inflated and resolved to set up a commission of enquiry to investigate the issue.

Many councillors especially from the audit committee ended up walking out of the stormy meeting with some recusing themselves.

Nemuseso is reported to have admitted  that the figure has initially shocked him but could not give a convincing statement on why he later signed the contract, without the knowledge of the mayor Rosario Mangoma and her councillors.

“It was a very tense meeting, some people had to recuse themselves, this was  after a proposal was made by a councillor  that the tender be cancelled and then be re-tendered because of the exorbitant fees. Research from other local authorities such as  Chinhoyi and Marondera show the figures to be around $55 000 against our figure of $780 000.

“The recommendation sailed through, we went further to call for the setting up of a committee to investigate how this came about. Curiously this led to a lot of councilors names supplied recusing themselves and walking out somewhat in protest.”

“But we stuck to our guns, how can we justify such controversial decisions when are are failing to deliver  and paying workers, this is taxpayers’ money at stake.”  

 Council announced recently it will be undertaking a general valuation of all properties in  Chitungwiza in terms of the Urban Councils Act and has appointed Grosbrook to undertake the exercise.

The notice  stated that this was  in line with the first stage of  President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Call to Action -No Compromise to Service Delivery interventions aimed at modernising local authorities operations in line with Vision 2030.

The municipality advised residents to allow officials from Grosbrook Real Estate P/L access into their properties for valuation purposes.

“To that end, Council has engaged Grosbrook Real Estate P/L to undertake this important exercise. Valuation officers from Grosbrook Real Estate P/L will be visiting your properties for inspection and assessment from June 24, 2024 for purposes of preparing a general valuation roll for the Municipality.” part of the notice read.

The properties include residential, commercial, industrial and institutional properties, read the notice signed by Nemuseso.

A general valuation roll is a legal document that consists of property information of all rateable properties within the boundaries of a municipality.

A property valuation report is given to the property owner to indicate the condition of the house and how much it is worth in the market. The report helps a buyer as well as a seller in assessing the value of a property. Based on the property valuation reports, you can estimate the price of your property.

Chitungwiza  public relations officer Tafadzwa Kachiko who last week said he had never seen any newspaper  inquiring on the valuation roll figures elsewhere,  promised to come back with a response on the latest development.

Mangoma yesterday had referred all questions to Kachiko

More details to follow