SHAKESPEARE MUNAKANDAFA
The Shurugwi Town council has with immediate effect exempted all vendors above the age of 60 from remitting vending tax.
The development which is the brainchild of Shurugwi urban ward 5 Councillor Mr Davias Mapwanya, comes at a time when the local authority is working tirelessly to economically empower the town’s senior citizens.
In an exclusive interview with this publication Mapwanya said the move to exempt all the senior citizens from paying vending tax is a way of enhancing their economic capabilities.
“Most of our elderly folk can no longer engage in straining jobs like gold panning which is the mainstay of Shurugwi’s economy hence we are trying to empower them through their already established businesses by exempting from remitting vending tax.
“Proper care is the lifeline to empowerment and liberation of the elderly. There is need for a collaborative effort to economically empower the elderly of our societies,” he said
Mapwanya described the elderly people as fountains of wisdom from whom young people should siphon knowledge.
“I wish that there were more young people here today so that they could learn just how important these ‘golden oldies’ are to everyone.
Scores of Shurugwi residents hailed the local authority and its leadership for coming up with the noble idea of empowering the senior citizens of the Scenic Town.
“The council has done a great thing, we were paying $2 per day as vending tax but with the exemption we can use the money to buy food and other basic needs for our families,” said Gogo Hove one of the vending exemption beneficiaries.
Another senior citizen Sekuru Kenya (67) who is into sculpturing thanked the town fathers for empowering him by allowing him to trade items in the town centre for free.
I greatly applaud the leadership of Tsungai Makore who is the town chairperson for exempting us from taxes, the town fathers also enlightened us that when one reaches the age of 60 is exempted from paying water rates and can also be given burial space for free by the local authority.
