Marko Peter Murwira, a young Francistown-based arts and music promoter who runs a promotions company, Marky Marko Promotions, is in a bitter row with the Francistown City Council (FCC) over what he deems as malpractice and negligence from the council officials.
Narrating his ordeal to The Telegraph in an interview on Monday, Murwira said his problem began last month after approaching the FCC to book for an arts performance event at the Francistown Stadium in a bid to raise funds for his business.
He said the Parks and Recreation Division at FCC, which handles the bookings, then approved his proposal to host the event, which was scheduled for 1st of September. Murwira said that to his amazement, things took a different twist on that date when he was about to host the event as council officials came and ordered him out of the stadium, saying that it had been booked for a football tournament.
“The painful part is that the City Council approved my booking and at the last minute, as I was about to start the event, they chased me out of the stadium. I had already sold tickets, spent money, and hired sound equipment. I now have debts of over P25 000 and FCC has since apologized through a letter and ignored me without taking heed of the costs or damages I suffered,” he said.
Murwira said that several efforts to try and raise his complaint with the city council officials has not borne fruit as they gave him a cold shoulder. He said that the letter he received had an apology from the city council stating that an error was made during the booking, which led to double bookings.
“My business is a self-financed business and, as a young Motswana businessman, I am battling to raise funds at the moment. What I want from the city council is for them to compensate me all the damages I suffered due to their negligence and malpractice or else I will have to take this issue to the Office of the President because it seems they are taking me for granted,” he said.
Reached for comment on the matter, the Francistown City Council Public Relations Officer, Priscilla Gulubane Simula, confirmed that they have such a matter. She said that they are still assessing on what could have transpired and further added that they will resolve the issue with Murwira as soon as possible.
“For now I cannot reveal much about this issue, but indeed we have such a matter and we are currently working around the clock to see how we can resolve it,” she said.
