HARARE residents have scoffed at reports that city council department heads and senior managers signed performance contracts.
The residents described the performance contracts as useless, arguing that several people holding positions at Town House do not deserve them.
The ceremony, held in the capital last week, was attended by several members of the council’s top brass and councillors. Among those who signed the contracts was acting town clerk Phakamile Mabhena Moyo.
However, residents blasted the contract-signing exercise, arguing that it does little to address entrenched service delivery failures at Town House, adding that it rewarded incompetence and poor performance.
Harare Residents Trust director Precious Shumba said only one director at Town House, Prosper Chonzi, the director of health, deserved a renewed contract.
He said service delivery had deteriorated in the capital, with much of the blame lying squarely on management.
“Only a single department is doing well under the leadership of Prosper Chonzi, the city’s director of health, who has professional workers willing to work under difficult situations and conditions,” Shumba said.
“The rest of the departments are run by highly incompetent and arrogant officials who think they own the city.
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No one deserves a second chance; they are friends with councillor Jacob Mafume and were recruited on patronage.”
He said in the water department, which covered a wide range of functions including waste management and infrastructure maintenance, there was unprofessionalism and negative attitudes towards residents and ratepayers.
“In the housing department, some officials are running parallel programmes and working closely with land barons,” he added.
“There is a lot of chaos in the housing department and we wonder why these people continue to be rewarded. The planning department is also chaotic; land barons are doing what they are doing because of poor planning, resulting in real chaos in urban planning.”
However, Mafume dismissed the allegations levelled against him, saying most people holding senior positions were employed before he became mayor.
He also defended the city’s recruitment process, saying it involves rigorous vetting, including interviews conducted by government officials.
“Our recruitment policy is based on a rigorous process which includes but is not limited to over two interviews at council and government levels, security vetting by appropriate State organs, and a check on qualifications,” Mafume said.
“A city council alone cannot install senior management and most of the workers have been at work for years before we came through.”
