In a rather shocking development, that could further expose the extent at which the football facilities have been run down, Chibuku Stadium,the most popular stadium in the dormitory town of Chitungwiza, has now been turned into a car park.
The ongoing blitz on unregistered vehicles by police has left Makoni Police Station in Chitungwiza overwhelmed by the growing number of impounded cars.
This has prompted authorities to look for an alternative place to secure the vehicles.
And Chibuku Stadium, which has been idle for years, has now been turned into a temporary vehicle storage facility.
“The parking space at Makoni Police Station has been overwhelmed and the police is now using Chibuku Stadium as a temporary measure during this blitz,” a police source told Mdlalo90
The Stadium, which used to host Premier Soccer League matches back in the late 1990s, has been defunct for so many years, denying the people of Chitungwiza a chance to watch top flight football.
Darryn T and Kiglon are some of the former PSL teams which once used Chibuku Stadium as their home ground.
There was a time when the facility would host such big teams as Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United.
All that is now part of history as Chibuku Stadium is now dilapidated and unfit to host even a boozers match.
Chitungwiza Council spokesperson Lovemore Meya said this was a temporary move.
“The thing is, it was not turned into a storage facility by the ZRP but we are having a joint operation with them.
“Therefore, we are offering storage facilities and security at our premises since it is a joint effort,” Meya told Mdlalo90.
He added: “Our Zengeza Head office is being used also as a storage facility, same with our Seke North offices and the overflow has actually forced us to use Chibuku Stadium as a storage facility as well for simple reasons that we have witnessed an overflow in traffic offenders in Chitungwiza.
“As a result, we have turned our premises to holding facilities to which those found wanting on traffic offenses are being fined and paying storage facilities to the tune of USD$10-00 to USD$20-00 depending on the size or weight of the vehicle,” Meya said.
Recently, Harare Provincial Development Coordinator, Tafadzwa Muguti, was castigated by a group of Councilors and administrators for stalling development in Chitungwiza, including the renovation of Chibuku Stadium.
According to the officials, Council had awarded a tender to a company for the renovation of the Stadium on a win-win basis.
However, Muguti allegedly threatened that if Council went ahead with the plan then officials involved would be arrested, sources say.
Owing to this impasse, the Stadium is being misused and also denying even local footballers a chance to showcase their talent on home soil.
Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) founder, Walter Magaya, also proposed to take over the renovation of the Stadium some few years ago, but his efforts were thwarted by some Councilors who allegedly demanded kick backs.
Chibuku Stadium is one of the many dilapidated football facilities across the country.
Rufaro, Gwanzura and Dzvivaresekwa Stadiums in Harare are now dysfunctional.
Mbizo and Amaveni in Kwekwe have also suffered the same fate, just like Rudhaka in Marondera which also used to host PSL matches.
Mdlalo90