Manyenyeni quits Harare City

MAYOR of Harare Bernard Manyenyeni has quit as patron of Premiership side Harare City, citing alleged abuse of ratepayers’ funds at the club.

The ambitious club is in Nyanga where they are holding their pre-season camp.

Manyenyeni believes it ’s high time the Harare City Council prioritised bread and butter issues than spend money running a football club.

The City of Harare has several football clubs under its wings.

“Two-week pre-season physical fitness extravaganza in Nyanga Resort? Possibly the only team in the league which can afford this luxury funded generously by ratepayers through a council with only 22 out of 47 garbage trucks working,” the Mayor said in a Facebook post.

“The annual football budget can possibly buy 20 new garbage trucks which last seven years minimum instantly filling up the gap in waste collection capacity.”

He went on to question the need for an enlarged board which he accused of spending three days on a planning seminar.

“The team’s management, enlarged board and a new lawyer ‘trustees’ had a three-day strategic planning seminar also outside of the capital last month.

“Information filtered that the seminar itself lasted only two hours. Having failed to obtain the financial disclosures necessary for my own conscience, I quit as the team’s patron last month.

“I am relieved with the dissociation.”

Harare City is one of the best professionally run club in the domestic Premiership. Bulawayo City also has its own football club.