Harare City Council will have just 25 functioning
councillors following the recall of another 11, including the deputy mayor, by
MDC-T yesterday.
This takes the number of vacancies to 21, a development
that may trigger the temporary appointment of commissioners until by-elections
are held.
While a council meeting requires just 17 councillors
present to form a quorum, much of the work of the council is done in committees
and depending on the distribution of the vacancies, there may be swathes of
suburbs without representation until by-elections are held.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is hoping the
Covid-19 pandemic will be sufficiently reduced, or other health measures can be
put in place, to allow Parliamentary and council by-elections by December.
Normally, outside a public health emergency, these would
take place in a matter of weeks after the vacancies.
Under the Urban Councils Act the Minister of Local
Government and Public Works can appoint one or more commissioners for a maximum
of six months, or until the vacancies are filled in a by-election, when “there
are no councillors for a council area or all the councillors for a council area
have been suspended or imprisoned or are otherwise unable to exercise all or
some of their functions as councillors.”
Where there are some councillors still available to
exercise some of their functions, any commission must consult these councillors
before making any decisions.
A commission is essentially intended as a holding operation
since the commission needs ministerial approval to collect rates and fees or
sell council land and in the case of Harare, where there are still sitting
councillors, any commission would in effect be checking and validating any
decisions reached by that group as part of the consultation process.
There have been legal changes since the last commissions
ran the city council, when a minister could remove a council and replace it by
a commission.
Under the new law, the commission is just there to keep the
city running until a new council is in place. If the Minister of Local
Government feels that a council is falling down on the job, then the minister
can issue policy directions and take other action to ensure the council is
doing its job.
MDC-T has been targeting those MPs, senators and
councillors who were its nominees in the MDC-Alliance single list in the last
harmonised election.
Those coming from other parties in the alliance cannot be
recalled by MDC-T, but that party was the largest component of the MDC-A and
had the largest number of nominees.
The 11 latest recalled councillors include deputy mayor
Enoch Mupamawonde, Lovemore Makuwerere (Ward 24), Gilbert Hadebe (Ward 39),
Munyaradzi Kufahakutizwi (Ward 19), Simon Mapanzure (Ward 34), Charles Chidhagu
(Ward 30), Keith Charumbira (Ward 8), Steven Dhliwayo (Ward 40), Barnabas Ndira
(Ward 21), Chihoma Runyowa (Ward 29) and Charles Nyatsuro (Ward 6).
The first batch of four councillors to be recalled in July
are Denford Ngadziore (Ward 16), Girisoti Mandere (Ward 44), Jaison Kautsa
(Ward 37), Tonderai Chakeredza (Ward 31).
Six councillors recalled in August are former mayor Hebert
Gomba (Ward 27), Hammy Madzingira (Ward 10), Kudzai Kadzombe (Ward 41),
Gaudencia Marere (Ward 32), Costa Mande (Ward 24), Happymore Gotora (Ward 7).
A communique from Local Government and Public Works
Minister July Moyo, addressed to the office of the Harare town clerk, informed
council about the latest recalls.
“I wish to inform you that l am in receipt of a letter from
the Movement of Democratic Change (T) stating that the following councillors
have been expelled from that party,” reads the letter.
The letter further declared wards 24, 39, 19, 34, 30, 8,
40, 21, 29, 6 and 35 are now vacant, in terms of the Constitution. Minister
Moyo said in terms of section 121 of the Electoral Act, council should inform
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of the vacant seats.
Sources from the MDC-T said the recalls were part of the
ongoing intra-party fights for the control of the party.
“The councillors are said to have humiliated Dr Khupe last
week during the mayoral election in which they voted a Peoples’ Democratic
Party candidate, Jacob Mafume, for the top civic job in the city. This was
against the wishes of Dr Khupe and company who wanted Luckson Mukunguma to be
the mayor,” said the source.
Harare City Council has been sitting on a major set of
corruption allegations involving the sale of council land and the rezoning of
public open space before that land is then sold, sometimes under contested
circumstances.
The creation of new housing stands for alleged personal
gain, plus alleged cover ups and allegations of favouritism in manipulation of
housing waiting lists or agreements of sale without prior advertising have seen
senior officials, up to Town Clerk Eng Hosiah Chisango, and some councillors,
including ex-mayor Gomba, arrested and taken to court.
While the powers of a commission are limited in time and
extent, there are many who support the appointment to help sort out major
problems.
Harare lawyer, Mr Obert Gutu, said the MDC-Alliance led
council has proven to be unfit with the growing group of councillors and
officials facing corruption-related charges.
Mr Gutu said whilst it was not strictly in compliance with
the dictates of democracy to have a local authority run by an appointed
commission, the situation in Harare has reached another level.
From being a clean city, Harare has degenerated into a
trash city with a malfunctioning refuse removal system, major deficiencies in
water supply to residents, dilapidated roads and illegal parcelling out of
residential, commercial and industrial stands.
Mr Collen Mharadzano said the situation cannot be allowed
to deteriorate any further.
“It is high time central Government intervenes and instil
order in the capital city. Corruption, as reported by all sections of media, is
stinking. The only remedy is to get rid of all the bad apples whose core
business is to plunder financial and other resources of the city.”
A local authority expert, Mr Roger Pote, said Government
should urgently appoint an independent commission comprising of experts in
various fields, to run the city’s affairs. Herald
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