By Sikhumbuzo Moyo
Consruction of Tsholotsho Stadium is yet to resume contrary to earlier reports that it was resuming last Friday.The Tsholotsho Rural District Council (RDC) chief executive officer Themba Moyo had said last week that construction work which was suspended in 2015, was resuming last Friday after the council took over the project.
Former Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo who is in self imposed exile, in 2015 ordered the local committee which was spearheading the construction of the stadium to halt all work saying Government had taken over the project.
Nothing has been done since then despite the fact that a hunting quota of 60 elephants was allocated by the Government to meet part of the costs for constructing the stadium and 30 elephants were shot. The whole project is estimated to cost about $5 million.
Moyo said money raised from the shot elephants was all there hence council had resolved to resume work after taking over the project.
When Chronicle Sport visited the site at the weekend, there were no indications or signs that work could resume any time soon.
“We were all shocked but also happy when we read in the media that work at the stadium was resuming as council had taken over construction,” said one of the villagers.
Another villager said they suspected that funds raised from the shot elephants could have been abused.
He said Sicelo Dube, who was chairperson of the construction committee resigned under unclear circumstances, raising suspicion that all was not well.
“Dube is a man of principle who has done wonders for Tsholotsho High School where he is the headmaster. I think he must have realised that his continued presence in the committee will soil his profession,” said the villager.
Dube confirmed that he was chairperson of the stadium construction committee but refused to shed light on why he stepped down.
A fuming Zanu-PF youth chairperson for Tsholotsho district Robert Rashirayi said there was a need for those handling the funds for the project to account for the money.
Efforts to contact Moyo regarding the delays in resuming work were fruitless as his mobile phone number has been continuously unreachable. The Chronicle
