‘DISSOLVE HARARE CITY COUNCIL’

RESIDENTS have urged the Government to dissolve Harare City Council and bar officials facing allegations of corruption and abuse of office from discharging duties.

The call comes after the local authority has been at the centre of controversy amid deteriorating service delivery coupled with deprived water reticulation, uncollected refuse and lack of road maintenance.

In an appeal addressed to Local Government and Public Works Minister July Moyo, Zimbabwe National Organisation of Associations and Residents Trusts (ZNOART) national chairman Shalvar Chikomba implored the minister to intervene.

“Accordingly, we come to the following conclusions and we urge you to consider them fairly and objectively in the interest of all the residents of Harare.

1 — The level of mismanagement coupled with unmitigated corruption at the highest level in City of Harare and everything else considered should persuade the Minister to recommend the dissolution of Council

2 — Minister should ensure that the current initiatives by Council Sub Committees, particularly the Human Resources must be subject to serious scrutiny because there is glaring evidence that it is pandering to the interests of a specific group of directors that are currently out on bail.

All the decisions that it has made and recommended to full Council require close examination because of inherent biases and vested interests.

Some decisions being currently taken by acting managers are directed by a powerful group of directors that are on bail with a view to eliminate rivals and to create an environment that favours their preferred outcomes. This undoubtedly affects delivery of service as council’s attention is diverted from its core business

3— In our view, the Minister must bar the return to office of all the accused until their cases have been cleared by the courts and/or an internal hearing process that is free of manipulation.

8.2 We are concerned that ever since the arrest of councillors and city directors, none of them have faced trial. It makes people doubt the commitment of government to deal with corruption especially where evidence is available

8.3 There are SACU operatives that were offered land. We fear that some city directors seem to believe that they enjoy the protection of wellplaced people. If this is true, then the future of the city is in jeopardy.

8.4 It is imperative that the Minister takes a close look at the alleged victimization of witnesses as submitted on Court papers. There are suggestions that potential witnesses to serious cases have been needlessly arrested to frustrate and defeat cases due to appear in court,” reads part of the letter.

Officials from the City Father are facing a barrage of court cases at the Harare Magistrates courts. Harare City Council director of works, Zvenyika Isaiah Chawatama, was recently denied bail after the magistrate said he was likely to interfere with witnesses.

Chawatama is facing allegations of discharging duties as acting Town Clerk when his term in the acting capacity had lapsed and is also embroiled in a Borrowdale property dispute.

Harare City Council directors, Tendai Kwenda and Cainos Chingombe, are accused of misappropriating funds meant for provision of water, sanitation, education and recreational services.

They were previously being separately charged with criminal abuse of office. The city has no town clerk (Hosiah Chisango), chamber secretary (Charles Kandemiri), directors of finance (Tendai Kwenda), housing and community services (Addmore Nhekairo), works (Zvenyika Chawatama), human capital development (Cainos Chingombe).

The only two directors available are Dr Prosper Chonzi and Engineer Mabhena-Moyo.

Government has instituted investigations in all local authorities to ensure that there is proper use of land and if there were any breaches the law will take its course. During a virtual meeting with Parliament’s Portfolio committee on Local

Government, Public Works and National Housing Local Government and Public Works Permanent Secretary Mr Zvinechimwe Churu said corrective action will be taken either by way of regularising settlements or relocating those on wetlands.

The Ministry of Local Government and Public

Works has dispatched a team of highly-skilled former council officials to conduct an audit in the country’s 32 urban councils. The audit comes as residents have slammed the City Fathers for running down urban councils. In 2013, Ignatius Chombo, the then Minister of Local Government, Rural and

Urban Development dissolved local authorities around the country saying their tenure had ended.

However, Constitutional Law expert Professor Lovemore Madhuku told H-Metro that there is no provision for such in the Constitution of Zimbabwe.