We have failed in cities: MDC-T

OPPOSITION MDC-T faction led by Mr Nelson Chamisa has all but admitted their failure to run urban authorities in the country which are in a state of decay characterised by roads riddled with potholes, unreliable water supplies and collapsed infrastructure.

The party, which has since 2000 been at the helm of most urban authorities, made the confession in their manifesto titled “new Zimbabwe pledge for a Sustainable and Modernisation Agenda for Real Transformation (Smart)” launched in Harare last week.

The party said some streets in the major cities they are in charge of were now like some of the dirtiest areas and poorly managed on the continent.

Under section 2.13.4 of the document titled; Smart Cities and towns the party likens the state of infrastructure in the country’s major towns and cities to war torn and dilapidated cities on the African continent.

“Given Zimbabwe’s expanding population and the high levels of rural to urban migration, an essential component of the MDC Alliance devolution revolution will be the development of Smart cities.

“It is obvious that all of Zimbabwe’s cities and towns are in a state of decay characterised by collapsed infrastructure, overcrowding, slums and other forms of informal settlements.

“In Harare-Julius Nyerere Way, Robert Mugabe Road, Mbuya Nehanda and Chinhoyi Street in particular, more than any other streets in Zimbabwe typify the extent of the decay. Like Monrovia, Freetown, Kinshasa or Luanda, these streets are like overcrowded post war ramshackles,” reads the document.

Apparently all the roads are in Harare which has been under the MDC-T led council since 2000.

Contacted for comment, the party’s national chairperson, Mr Morgan Komichi was at pains in denying that they implied that councils which were under their control had failed in running the authorities.

He alleged that while they were at the helm of the councils their councillors did not have any executive powers.

“Look in the current setup, the minister has so much power, with councillors just being ceremonial leaders without any executive powers at all.

“We cannot take the blame of a system which we do not even control, as councils are controlled by the chief executive officer who is the town clerk, who then reports directly to the minister, those are the people to be blamed.

“Further, let us not forget that it is the global economy of a country that determines the performance of such local authorities because the local authorities do not operate in isolation hence since the country’s economy was at its lowest it is thus a given that the councils did not operate to full capabilities,” said Mr Komichi.

Ironically, councils through their general purposes committee have had the power to determine key council resolutions to do with service delivery, inclusive of road rehabilitation, water service provision among others, without the need of a ministerial directive.

Further, a number of MDC-T run councils have over the years been caught on the wrong side of the law after councillors tried to influence on key council service delivery tenders.

The party leadership has also on a number of occasions been quoted boasting that local authorities like the Bulawayo City Council was on a number of occasions voted the best run council because they were run by “their councillors”.

Questioned on this cowardice stance, where they only seek to identify with the councils when they do good, Mr Komichi said; “In a class of dull students there is always the best, which is where the Bulawayo City Council falls but they could have performed 10 times better if they were operating under a different environment.”

Over the past years a number of urban councils have had corruption allegations levelled against them, which resulted in either Government suspending them or sending a commission of inquiry to investigate them.

A couple of years ago a team was sent to Bulawayo to investigate the conduct of Bulawayo City councillors with the outcome of the report resulting in the expulsion of the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Gift Banda and another councillor Reuben Matengu.

Clr Banda, who is also the party’s Bulawayo provincial chairperson, however, had his expulsion lifted by the High Court.

Mr Chamisa was recently quoted in the media admitting that corruption was rife in MDC-T led councils saying that he wants the aspiring candidates in the local government elections to have impeccable integrity and not to engage in graft.