RESIDENTS of Masvingo have taken their local authority to court for continuously cutting water supplies on defaulters in defiance of a government directive to stop the practice.
STAFF REPORTER
Through its lawyers, Masvingo Residents’ Trust (MRT) instituted the legal action through human rights lawyer Phillip Shumba after the council cut water supplies at over 30 houses in ward 2.
The matter is now set to be heard on July 3 at the Masvingo Magistrates’ Courts.
In a statement, the residents said they resorted to legal action after efforts to resolve the matter amicably with council management hit a snag.
“This comes at a time when a series of meetings facilitated by MRT between the management of the city council and the affected residents failed to yield anything fruitful,” said the trust.
The council is owed in excess of $21 million by ratepayers, among them State institutions.
The apparent reluctance by residents and institutions to honour their debts has forced the struggling local authority to impose water disconnections on defaulting households, coupled with a resolution to sue State institutions.
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Water disconnections are being effected despite the evident threat posed by the recent outbreak of waterborne diseases in the transit city.
The debts have been accruing since June last year — just before the July 31 polls — when government, through the Local Government ministry, ordered the country’s local authorities to cancel all debts owed by ratepayers.
The populist directive, which was viewed as an election gimmick by the Zanu PF wing of the then ruling inclusive government, further crippled service delivery in the country’s struggling local authorities.
