KWEKWE councillors, who early this year passed a resolution
to name a street after the late MDC founding icon Morgan Tsvangirai, have
started seeking legal advice before implementing the decision to avoid
offending Local Government minister July Moyo.
The councillors, who are mostly MDC Alliance members, had
wanted to honour the late Tsvangirai for his role in the fight for democracy by
challenging the late former President Robert Mugabe’s stranglehold on power.
Kwekwe deputy mayor Shadreck Tobaiwa yesterday confirmed
the councillors were seeking legal advice over the resolution.
“We have set up a team consisting of some councillors to
look into that matter. We want legal advice to inform us on whether naming a
street after a former opposition party leader does not violate the Urban
Councils Act or any other regulations or legal statutes that govern our powers
as councillors. That is what has delayed the process of implementing our
resolution,” Tobaiwa said, adding that the team would report back to the city
fathers at the next full council meeting.
“We are just being cautious, but otherwise the resolution
to name a street here in Kwekwe after the late Tsvangirai already exists. But
we want to dispel any doubt that perhaps we will be jumping the gun,” he said.
Sesel Zvidzai, the MDC Alliance secretary for local
government, said the councillors had nothing to fear by naming a street after a
public figure.
“Councils are at law allowed to craft by-laws and to
resolve to do everything lawful, including giving honour to eminent citizens of
this country. Morgan Tsvangirai, indeed, qualifies to have his name etched
indelibly in the annals of history of the City of Kwekwe,” he said.
Zvidzai, who was Tsvangirai’s chief of staff, pointed out
that central government had no business in dictating how local authorities
should conduct themselves on issues that constitutionally fell under their
ambit. Newsday
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