Inept councils are the elephant in the room

OVER the last five years, the Government has notably become proactive, and not reactive. Its actions seem to be well-considered and measured. If that was not the case, it would have run the current crop of city fathers out of town for abjectly failing to deliver basic services and putting in jeopardy the lives of millions of residents. Urban councils have failed to provide households with running water and collect garbage from communities, among their many failures. The city’s open spaces continue to be parcelled out by self-serving corrupt councillors. The latest cholera outbreak, which has now become increasingly concentrated in urban areas, where conditions already exist for hygiene-related diseases, has seriously exposed the abysmal incompetence in our local authorities, which should no longer be tolerated. This, however, is to be expected, considering that the capital city is still using a masterplan developed in 1993. Incredible! And, for the umpteenth time, the Government has had to intervene by giving the Harare City Council a helping hand, be it to buy water treatment chemicals or, lately, collect refuse. This week, we report that the Government-appointed technical committee, working with City of Harare, intends to replace over 9 000 kilometres of aging water and sewer pipes. The programme would be prioritised for suburbs such as Mbare, Glen View and Kuwadzana. Authorities have also facilitated the procurement of 52 tractors to bolster the city’s solid waste management efforts. Essentially, the Government is prodding the city fathers to do what is ordinarily expected of them. Writing for The Sunday Mail in October last year, President Mnangagwa indicated that even if the Government successfully completes water bodies to supply our towns and cities, shortages would likely persist because of the inherent weaknesses in the water conveyancing infrastructure. “Backbone infrastructure for water supply and reticulation in most of our towns and cities is broken, struggling or outrightly non-existent. “While water bodies can be availed to potentially meet clean water requirements for our cities, it has become apparent that such a goal remains a pie in the sky until our local authorities are properly and efficiently run,” wrote the President. “Water supply crises in most of our urban settlements are not explained by absence of water bodies; rather they are explained by water conveyancing systems which are either non-existent, inadequate, inefficient, obsolete and decrepit. The same also goes for uncollected garbage and broken sewer systems. In the absence of a drastic renovation of all our local authorities in the country, Zimbabwe will continue to suffer periodic outbreaks of preventable diseases, in spite of her many unused water bodies.” This is why the Government considers it urgent to fix the country’s water and sewer infrastructure. But the elephant in the room are the corrupt and clueless local authorities that seem oblivious of the country’s ambition to leapfrog development and built a prosperous society. They are clearly no longer fit for purpose. The paralysis within the City of Harare, which has had more than three mayors since last year’s elections, has become apparent, and there is no guarantee it will not continue. Council now needs to be served from itself. The sheer scope and scale of works that are needed to turn Harare into a world-class city — which means well-manicured boulevards, quality and trafficable roads, well-lit neighbourhoods, potable water for communities and functional recreational spaces and community halls — is massive. Obviously, this cannot be entrusted to the same people that cannot perform the simplest of tasks and duties. The time might have come for us to consider an alternative and viable way forward. Time is of the essence.