Bigwigs queueing for fuel: Gumbo
By Pauline Hurungudo
Government bigwigs are also queueing for fuel, Energy and Power Development minister Joram Gumbo has claimed, rejecting accusations that there was lethargy to address the fuel shortages because the top officials were not affected.
As fuel shortages have worsened with long winding queues at filling stations, top chefs and bigwigs continue to gallivant in expensive fuel guzzling SUVs and Mercs, with some reportedly sending tankers to collect fuel from filling stations, much to the chagrin of those spending hours in queues.
Gumbo told the Daily News: “I have heard all those allegations but they are not true. They wait in queues just like everyone else.”
This comes amid indications that top chefs do not queue and refuel at the Central Mechanical and Equipment Department (CMED) where there are absolutely no queues. The CMED hardly runs out of fuel, even amid worsening supply bottlenecks in the country.
Gumbo said: “They buy coupons and CMED simply reserves fuel to coupon holders and the rest goes to buyers. Every service station gets allocations from Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe equally and according to the number of outlets. So, there is no favouritism to CMED.”
Gumbo also insisted that there was sufficient fuel in Zimbabwe.
“I said we have enough fuel, and we do have fuel in bond storage tanks in Msasa and Mabvuku but the only problem is foreign currency shortages and each service station gets an allocation according to outlets and it’s just that CMED is all over the country,” Gumbo said.
A top Cabinet minister who spoke to the Daily News on condition of anonymity confirmed that fuel is ferried at the doorstep of the bigwigs, who do not even have to go to the filling station to get fuel.
“Messengers come to our offices and ask us if we need extra fuel to fill up our tanks, so we are always fully supplied,” the bigwig said.
According to Auditor-General Mildred Chiri, bigwigs are granted excessive fuel allowances which she said was being directed to bankroll personal errands.
In a report tabled in Parliament, Chiri disclosed that government management staff get fuel allowances for totalling an average 5 000 litres a month. Daily News
