{"id":115202,"date":"2026-02-13T12:06:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T10:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/council-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-for-a-water-bowser"},"modified":"2026-02-13T14:14:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T12:14:35","slug":"council-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-for-a-water-bowser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/council-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-for-a-water-bowser","title":{"rendered":"Council \u201crolls out the red carpet\u201d for a water bowser"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>Chivhu residents are fuming after learning that Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe is set to commission a water bowser and a refuse compactor in the transit town on Saturday \u2014 amid fears the council coild spend thousands of dollars hosting the event for two machines that, on a good day, are meant to save money.<\/p>\n

Garwe is expected to preside over the ceremony at the Chivhu Town Council offices at 9am, according to a notice circulated by the local authority.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaswera sei. Tiri kukuzivisai nekukukokai musi weSaturday kune commissioning yeWater Bowser neRefuse Compactor naMinister of Local Government. Nenguva dza9am pama office eCouncil,\u201d reads the notice.<\/p>\n

Residents who spoke to NewsDay expressed concern that the cash-strapped council could splash thousands of United States dollars catering for the minister\u2019s delegation and covering travel and subsistence allowances for councillors \u2014 all to officially introduce equipment whose job description is simply to deliver water and carry rubbish, quietly and without applause.<\/p>\n

One resident said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is unnecessary expenditure at a time when we are struggling with water shortages and poor service delivery. Why should ratepayers\u2019 money be used to host political events?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another resident described the commissioning as a \u201ccampaign gimmick,\u201d conveniently timed to influence voters ahead of the February 22 by-elections in Wards 12 and 7 under the Chikomba Rural District Council.<\/p>\n

Ward 12 fell vacant following the conviction of CCC councillor Maukazuva, while Ward 7 is up for grabs after the death of Zanu PF councillor Florence Mudzamiri.<\/p>\n

Critics argue that the high-profile commissioning of basic service-delivery equipment in Chivhu \u2014 which falls under Chikomba RDC \u2014 could be designed to boost the ruling party\u2019s visibility in the run-up to the polls, proving that in local politics, even a water bowser can enjoy a moment in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Chivhu residents are fuming after learning that Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe is set to commission a water bowser and a refuse compactor in the transit town on Saturday \u2014 amid fears the council coild spend thousands of dollars hosting the event for two machines that, on a good day, are meant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":115201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-115202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nCouncil \u201crolls out the red carpet\u201d for a water bowser - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chivhu residents are fuming after learning that Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe is set to commission a water bows ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/council-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-for-a-water-bowser\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Council \u201crolls out the red carpet\u201d for a water bowser\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chivhu residents are fuming after learning that Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe is set to commission a water bows ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/council-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-for-a-water-bowser\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T10:06:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T12:14:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2026\/02\/sm_1770984830.5431.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"557\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/council-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-for-a-water-bowser#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/council-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-for-a-water-bowser\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Council \u201crolls out the red carpet\u201d for a water bowser\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-13T10:06:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-13T12:14:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/council-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-for-a-water-bowser\"},\"wordCount\":312,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/council-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-for-a-water-bowser#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2026\/02\/sm_1770984830.5431.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Zimbabwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/council-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-for-a-water-bowser#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/council-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-for-a-water-bowser\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/council-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-for-a-water-bowser\",\"name\":\"Council \u201crolls out the red carpet\u201d for a water bowser - 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