I am appalled by Harare City Council’s decision to buy 25 posh vehicles for its bloated senior workforce.
Ropafadzo Mapimhidze
If this is not looting, how best can you describe such a decision?
This is the most insensitive resolution by town clerk Tendai Mahachi and his cronies who have reduced Harare into an inhabitable city where water and service delivery is hopelessly terrible.
For how long shall we continue having such a management that has failed to fill in potholes and many other obligations?
Water is a basic human right, but this is no longer the case in Harare as most people have gone for years without water with not much being done to improve the situation.
How many times have we heard about little children drowning in buckets of water fetched from unprotected water holes?
And how many people have had their cars damaged after trees in the capital have fallen over them?
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How many people have fallen into open crevices along pavements, resulting in fractures to their leg bones?
The list is endless.
The trees, yes the beautiful jacaranda trees that made Harare to be known as the sunshine city, have become too dangerous for motorists that park along these streets.
Council should have started planting replacement trees many years ago because the trees now have rotten roots that are now lying on top of the soil.
I cannot imagine a Harare without these trees.
A car belonging to a well-known television actor and artiste was recently smashed by an ageing jacaranda tree, and reliable sources say this person was compensated for damage caused to his vehicle.
This is a person who knows his rights as a citizen of the country, but what of the many other people who don’t seem to be aware that council can be taken to the cleaners if for instance a pothole causes an accident?
Yes, they have to face the music and pay for the unnecessary pain they are causing to residents of this city because it would seem as though these city fathers are not concerned about the problems that beset this city and yet they are taking as much as they can from the coffers.
It is a fact that these people will not last longer, whether or not they are getting protection from some powerful politicians, who are also apparently involved in so many other financial scams.
It is just disgusting to note that the culture of pilfering from coffers aimed at befitting everyone, seem to land into individuals pockets leaving everyone one wondering whether these people have do have a conscience.
What Zimbabwe needs today are principled, ethical and leaders that a moral responsibility towards the people they are serving.
I live near Westgate (Tynwald North) where water hardly goes through the water pipes.
I have instead installed a water tank and buy water twice a month ($120 for 1 000 litres).
This is revenue that should be going to Harare City Council, but water haulers are now making a killing from this crisis. How do we live without water, Mahachi, sir?
But I still get estimated bills quoting silly figures like $90 a month for water and other services that are not being accorded to us.
My car, and other vehicles, have suffered so many damages due to potholes on our roads and this year alone I incurred repair expenses that cost nearly $1 000.
For how long shall we continue paying these city fathers for a shoddy job? Public toilets are so messy and hence residents have resorted to defecating in either Harare Gardens or Africa Unity Square.
The service lanes in the city smell so horrible with vendors now line up the streets of Harare selling vegetables, fruits, shoes and anything you can think of.
Recently, I saw a woman place a plastic over fresh urine where she laid her wares that included vegetables and fruits.
This is what is then sold to workers from the esteemed offices around Harare . . . it is no wonder that this city constantly has diarrhea outbreaks.
There is absolutely no one monitoring whether or not people that are cooking food in some buildings have medical certificates clearing them from TB and other contagious diseases.
The kombi chaos in the city has largely been overlooked by city authorities and they reign supreme.
But for how long shall we continue paying this council that seems to give a blind eye to all these ills?
Leaders generally want to shift blame to other forces but the fact is that these people have failed us.
We have been failed so much that we are hopelessly hoping against hope. I am a very disgruntled ratepayer and I would like council to come and uproot its water meter because they are billing me for water they are not providing . . .
It is high time residents took legal action against Harare City Council. Yes residents can sue council if they feel they are being shortchanged and the time is now.
Enough is enough.
