HARARE residents and the main opposition MDC-T have accused the Zanu PF government of seeking to divert the nation’s attention from the comatose economy by pushing for construction of the new capital city in Mt Hampden.
BY MOSES MATENGA
Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo recently announced that Cabinet had approved the project with the actual construction set to start in the next two years. But in an interview yesterday, Combined Harare Residents’ Association (CHRA) chairperson Simbarashe Moyo said the move was meant to divert attention to the least on the residents’ current needs.
“I think this is purely a diversionary act by Chombo to divert people from the problems the country is facing. We don’t need to celebrate that. Will that help Zimbabweans that we will have a new capital city?” Moyo said.
“We are worried about the economic collapse, ineffective delivery of services and for them to say we are planning to set a city will not console a hungry man and an unemployed graduate on the street.”
MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu scoffed at the plan saying government had no capacity to carry out such a capital-intensive project given that it was struggling to pay its workers and maintain basic infrastructure like roads.
“The Zanu PF regime’s plans to build a new capital city in Mt Hampden is tantamount to a gross absurdity. Here’s a totally broke and insolvent government that cannot even pay civil servants’ salaries on time planning to embark on some grandiose plan that they are clearly unable to fund,” Gutu said.
“Where’s the money to construct the envisaged new capital city going to come from? The infrastructure in all the country’s cities, towns and growth points has crumbled and instead of channelling their energies to try to rehabilitate the crumbling infrastructure, this regime is dreaming of constructing a whole new capital city. Surely, the gods must really be crazy. This illegitimate government is a curse on the people of Zimbabwe. The sooner it gets out of power, the better for the generality of the people,” Gutu added.
