The trio had been suspended in line with a Ministry of
Local Government and Public Works directive that any official with a pending
court case be barred from performing council duties until acquitted by the
courts.
Eng Chisango, Eng Chawatama and Mr Nhekairo, who were all
on suspension with benefits, have since been cleared of the criminal cases at
court and are now at work.
They all confirmed having resumed their duties. Contacted
yesterday, Eng Chisango said he had since hit the ground running, focusing on
stabilising human resources, revenue maximisation, regularisation,
decentralisation as well as water, sanitation and hygiene in the face of the
cholera outbreak.
“On regularisation of settlements, we want to have the
council and Government approve settlements that can be regularised to enable
beneficiaries to develop standard roads, water and sanitation infrastructure,’
he said.
“This will provide security of tenure to the beneficiaries
as well as orderly settlements. Incorporating these settlements will increase
the city’s revenue base.”
Eng Chisango said on development of SMEs infrastructure, he
wanted to champion construction of resilient infrastructure for the small to
medium enterprises.
“I had initiated the construction of structures at the
corner of Seke/Dieppe roads, Shawasha Grounds as well as rehabilitation of
Mupedzanhamo market,” he said. “The aim is to decongest Mbare by decentralising
markets across the city.
“Decentralisation this entails resuscitation of districts
infrastructure such as workshops and to have functional and empowered teams at
district offices so that residents can access all services at their districts.”
Eng Chisango said focus was also on stabilisation of human
resources in view of the events of the last three years.
“There has been a lot of consternation among employees with
accusations and counter accusations and a lot of factionalism,” he said. “My
focus is to meld the groups into one functional administrative family that is
focused on the service delivery agenda.”
Eng Chisango said the city had operated with a semi
functional ERP and this resulted in huge revenue losses.
“It is urgent that the council resolves this issue to
enhance integrity in all systems,” he said. “We were also preparing standard
operating procedures for all council operations. The thrust is to finalise
these processes.”
Eng Chisango said water supply, wastewater management and
refuse collection were top on his agenda, especially at this time when cholera
cases were on the rise as there will be capacitation of all units to ensure
timely response to disruptions.
He said will also push for critical projects that were
being initiated by the mayor such as the rehabilitation and upgrading of Rufaro
Stadium and community facilities such as swimming pools and libraries.
“I will pursue these projects to completion as they have a
bearing on the mental health and well-being of our residents, especially the
youths in these times of rampant substance abuse,” he said.
During suspension, Eng Chisango was being accused, along
with Mr Nhekairo, of being implicated in the illegal creation and allocation of
stands on an open space in Kuwadzana 3 in July 2019 without going through the
legal process of changing land use.
Mr Nhekairo also stood accused of allocating residential
stands in Westlea to undeserving people who included police officers and a
prosecutor, who were also arrested and charged. Eng Chawatama stood accused of
allegedly failing to utilise $10 million disbursed by the Zimbabwe National
Road Administration for roads rehabilitation on time, only to use it when it
had devalued.
Harare City Council’s top brass has since been filled with
substantive heads except for the offices of the finance director, chamber
secretary and human capital development. Herald
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