HARARE City Council has warned that residents’ representatives calling for a boycott of payment of bills are committing a serious criminal offence tantamount to advocating for “chaos and anarchy”.
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City spokesperson Leslie Gwindi said calls by Harare Residents’ Trust (HRT) director Precious Shumba to boycott payment of rates for the next three months in protest over lack of transparency and alleged mismanagement of funds at Town House were “unfortunate”.
He said the issue of the alleged abuse of the $144 million Chinese water project loan was under investigation and should not be used as an excuse to stop paying rates.
“It’s a populist statement not backed by facts and we can only talk about it after the investigations. For anybody to advocate for (rates boycott) that is advocating for chaos and anarchy and the law will not accept that,” Gwindi said. “I don’t know which constituency he (Shumba) is appealing to. The constituency with order knows there is an investigation going on. We are not in the business of scoring points here. He is advocating for something beyond what he is saying and that is unlawful.”
Gwindi said council was “between a rock and a hard place” and was not a profit-making entity which relied on ratepayers’ money to provide for services. He urged residents to come up with payment plans to settle their outstanding bills.
But residents said if local authorities resorted to confrontation in order to fund their extravagant lifestyles, then the HRT would defend everyone that would be affected or summoned for failing to pay their bills.
“Only until there is accountability and a complete overhaul of the billing system shall the HRT mobilise residents to pay their bills to Harare City Council — the Constitution gives us the right to petition and demonstrate and rates boycott is a measure of protest,” HRT said in a statement on Monday.
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“Presently we are engaged with key stakeholders to explore the possibility of setting up a trust account for Harare where residents can deposit their rates and provide the services which the City of Harare has dismally failed to provide.”
The HRT added: “If they think residents are easy victims of luxury, then they have to brace for a complete shift in power dynamics at community level. We are mobilising every citizen to care for their money wherever they are.”
