By Flata Kavinga
City of Kwekwe Finance Director Rejoice Maweni-Dandira has expressed concern over delayed payments by government departments and other debtors, including the Municipality of Redcliff, saying the situation has crippled the city’s ability to implement key development projects.
Speaking during the city’s 2025 budget review and 2026 budget consultation meeting with Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Maweni-Dandira said government institutions have accumulated arrears for water and other municipal services.
“We have a lot of delays in payments from the government,” she said. “We provide services to departments such as the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services, the magistrates’ court, hospital, and the Vehicle Inspection Department. However, this has been a bad year for us as government was not paying for water or services.”
Maweni-Dandira said the city had appealed to government to consider settling part of its obligations directly through the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) to ease financial pressure on the local authority.
“The delays in disbursements result in our failure to carry out planned projects, including infrastructure maintenance and service delivery improvements,” she said.
She also noted that the Municipality of Redcliff, which receives bulk water from Kwekwe, has been making partial payments that are insufficient to cover the cost of supply.
“We are happy that there are now functional bulk water meters in Redcliff, and we are billing based on actual consumption,” she said. “They are very happy that they now have lots of water in Redcliff, but they are not paying significant amounts. We continue to encourage them to balance the two—receiving water and paying for it.”
The City of Kwekwe is conducting budget consultations with various stakeholders as part of efforts to enhance transparency, accountability, and public participation in the formulation of its 2026 municipal budget.
