Former Harare City Mayor Bernard Manyenyeni has refuted claims by his predecessor Herbert Gomba that he approached council proposing to purchase one of the council vehicles he used during his term of office.
Addressing the council meeting on Monday, Gomba said Manyenyeni had approached him with a request to purchase one of the council vehicles.
“I had a meeting with the previous Mayor Bernard Manyenyeni were he was kindly requesting council to push one of Mayoral vehicle in terms of council policy and a letter direct from the minister,” said Gomba.
However, Manyenyeni denied approaching council on the issue, posting a picture of a circular from permanent Secretary in the local government ministry, George Magosvongwe informing town clerks and secretaries that all outgoing mayors should be allowed to purchase their mayoral vehicles.
“I did not have a mayoral car. I opted to use pool cars after the ministry rejected my request to downgrade from $200k Mercedes S350 to a $63k Jaguar XF. I then made another proposal a Chrysler 300C at $68k and they turned it down. Instead of playing mind games over the car matter I opted for pool cars depending on availability, namely, 2 Toyota double cabs and sometimes a Foton double cab. I don’t know which car it is they discussed in council, how old it is, what price it is and, besides, I am not forced to accept/buy it.
“If a decision has been made my own decision will be based on two levels: price level and conscience level,” said Manyenyeni.
