David Coltart, the mayor of Bulawayo reportedly left a meeting of the city’s finance committee abruptly following a dispute over the planned spending of US$300,000 on the Bulawayo Arts Festival in June.
The request to fund the festival was tabled during a meeting held on April 23. The festival is set to be held from 2 to 5 June, after the commemoration of Bulawayo Day on June 1.
The festival was first held in 2019 following lobbying by the arts industry.
According to ZimLive, Coltart told councillors he had another engagement before walking out of the meeting.
But before he left, the former Minister of Education told the other councillors on the committee that the city had other priority projects in need of funding. Coltart added that it would be hard to justify spending US$300 000 on a cultural festival.
Bulawayo’s director of housing Dictor Khumalo made the request for funding the festival. He said:
Annually, council budgets for the festival. This year a total of US$300,000 has been provisionally budgeted for the festival in the hold on vote.
Councillors who supported the proposal included Ward 28 councillor Ntando Ndlovu (CCC) and the committee’s chairman, Ward 26 councillor Mpumelelo Moyo (CCC).
Coltart told the councillors that allocating limited council funds to the festival, despite its commendable goal of highlighting the city’s cultural heritage and diversity, would be unjustifiable.
He was supported ward by 22 councillor Bruce Moyo (CCC) and Ward 24 councillor Tavengwa Zidya (ZANU PF) in resisting the proposal.
A councillor who attended the meeting told ZimLive:
Most of the councillors felt that the council administration led by the town clerk (Christopher Dube) and Khumalo was behind the push for the council to bankroll the festival. Councillors were not satisfied the money, if released, would be properly accounted for anyway.
Zidya told councillors that the money should be spent on repairing street lights and buying plumbing equipment to attend to blocked sewers promptly.
However, Ndlovu pleaded for the release of the money, saying the programme supports local artists that he said were not getting a fair shot at showcasing themselves during major music concerts.
Coltart confirmed to ZimLive that he left the meeting early, but denied this was in protest over the debate. He said:
I didn’t leave in protest. When I left there appeared to be a broad consensus that it would be inappropriate to spend this money given our major water infrastructural needs during this drought year.
Following the animated discussions, the meeting concluded without reaching a resolution regarding the controversial proposal.
