OWN CORRESPONDENT
Internecine fights are the order of the day in Harare where residents feel that the City Council has abdicated its duty of providing efficient service delivery at a time when economic hardships have lowered the standards of living for the citizens.
A survey by this publication revealed that some Harare residents are calling for the replacement of the Harare City Council by a Commission to be appointed by the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, July Moyo.
Residents across the City of Harare are saying that the MDC-run Council has completely failed to administer the once upheld sunshine city status, with the delivery system in shambles .One resident from Ballantyne Park, Mr Pearce Drummond lamented the poor delivery system saying that government should seriously consider the issue of a Commission before things worsen.
Another resident from Glen View, Stephen Manungo had no kind words for Harare Mayor, Herbert Gomba and his councillors saying that residents had made a mistake by voting them into council.
“Musha wese yangove tsvina nekuti marara haasi kutakurwa zvachose, mvura hakuna apa matsime atinochera mudzimba aoma, migwagwa angove ma pot holes chete chete (The entire city is littered, with council not collecting garbage while the wells and boreholes are dry with potholes in all the roads),” said Mr Manungo.
Spiked Online Media is reliably informed that Harare is faced with a rise in cases of diarrhoea diseases, with high density suburbs such as Glen View, Buduriro and Mbare being the most affected. So far two cases of typhoid have already been recorded and residents are blaming Council for mismanagement of funds which are being diverted to the pockets of city fathers through numerous retreats and unnecessary full council meetings.
The councillors are also being accused of parcelling out stands with almost every space going up for grabs as councillors get brown envelopes from car dealers and foreigners.
Harare residents have come together and a petition is being drawn up calling for the setting up of a Commission to take over the running of Council affairs. The petition which is expected to raise more than 60 000 signatures will be presented to Minister July Moyo, the Auditor General Mildred Chiri and another copy will be presented to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) chairperson, Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo.
Impeccable sources also revealed that these latest developments have unsettled the Councillors who have gone into a panic mode. “Vakuvara matsotsi aye (The thieves are jittery),” retorted John Ncube of Matererini Flats in Mbare while another resident commenting at Fashion Fair shops in Hatfield said, “Bring the petition like yesterday so that we sign it. Look at the state of our roads. We do not even get water here in Hatfield and Msasa Park. Its as if we are cursed. “
Residents are calling for a Resident Association (name withheld) to spearhead the mobilisation for signing of the petition which is expected to draw overwhelming responses beginning on Tuesday the 6th of August 2019.