Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. HARARE mayor Jacob Mafume has issued a stern warning, threatening to dismiss officials he believes are sabotaging efforts to maintain Rufaro Stadium.
The mayor expressed his personal frustration and anger at a recent full council meeting, stating that the stadium’s current state of disrepair is a direct affront to the council’s hard work in bringing Premiership football back to the venue.
Mafume emphasised the significant effort invested in renovating Rufaro, which had been unable to host top-flight matches for several years.
This forced local teams to incur additional costs for transport and accommodation by playing outside the capital.
“Rufaro Stadium is a source of pride for Harare City Council,” Mafume declared, recounting his personal dedication to the project.
“I would go to Rufaro Stadium at midnight to check on the progress; sometimes I couldn’t sleep.”
The mayor made it clear that any further neglect would have severe repercussions.
“If [Rufaro] goes into a state of despair because of the dilly-dallying, what you are doing, you are going to explain it when you are at home,” he warned.
“There are going to be consequences. You are going to say the Harare mayor is not a good person, but you will be at home.”
Mafume suspects deliberate sabotage, citing reports of authorities failing to purchase essential equipment like lawnmowers and even instructing workers not to water the pitch.
He highlighted his personal embarrassment from the stadium’s poor appearance on social media and television.
“The stadium is televised every weekend and on social media, and then we have a case where lines are not straight and dust is coming out from the lines, and even failing to buy a lawnmower to keep our lawn well-kept,” he lamented.
“Let’s just do what is needed to be done, and the lawn should be lush.”
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