BY KENNETH NYANGANI
MUTARE residents yesterday demanded genuine devolution that would allow the city to chart a developmental path, which they said was lagging behind in development.
The residents made the remarks at a Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Foundation-organised workshop themed Reweaving and Enlivening the economic fabric in Mutare, Implication of Devolution on Business.
The meeting was attended by members of the Mutare business community, residents and other stakeholders.
United Mutare Residents Ratepayers Trust programmes director Edson Dube bemoaned poor infrastructure in Manicaland.
“We have challenges of poor infrastructure in Mutare and roads are non-existent. We no longer have industries to talk of in the city,” he said.
“What I can say at the moment, Mutare City is in great distress as we have challenges of water and sanitation. If you go to some high-density suburbs, especially in Sakubva, raw sewage is flowing through most of the suburbs and this is a health time bomb.
“With all the resources we have in the province, we could have been somewhere and as residents, we are calling for a genuine devolution process, if we are to develop as a city,” he added.
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Mutare deputy mayor Kudakwashe Chisango said they were working on resolving water challenges facing the city.
“We are working on the water challenges. In the last few weeks we had challenges in securing foreign currency, but now we are in some discussions with some donors,” he said. RAU director Shastry Njeru told the gathering that devolution was a constitutional requirement which needed “serious political will”.
“Devolution is a constitutional requirement which started way back in 2013. Devolution involves serious politics and is a complex thing which needs balance on politics and economics,” he said.
