By Flata Kavinga
Kwekwe Mayor Cllr Albert Zinhanga has urged residents to settle their debts with the local authority to avoid the risk of legal action.
Speaking during an interview with The Public Eye, Cllr Zinhanga said council prefers residents to voluntarily pay what they owe rather than forcing the city to resort to debt collectors or the courts.
> “It’s not nice to send debt collectors to people, but sometimes as a local authority we are forced to recover the money. We urge residents to pay up and avoid such measures,” he said.
Councillor Zinhanga added that while letters of demand are often sent out, he could not confirm if any residents have actually been taken to court over unpaid bills. He said he would check with the chamber secretary who handles the legal side of council affairs.
The mayor stressed that revenue collected from residents is distributed across critical services such as water supply, waste management and road rehabilitation.
Kwekwe City Council, like many local authorities across the country, continues to face financial challenges as a result of unpaid rates and service charges.
