Back to Index

A 'worse than average criminal' speaks out
Mike Davies
Vice Chairman, Combined Harare Residents Association
Chairman, Highlands Ratepayers & Residents Association
October 06, 2001

Dear Citizens of Harare

While recognizing the wisdom of the cliché "don’t argue with a fool because people might not be able to tell the difference", I must express my resentment at being called 'worse than an average criminal' in today’s Herald (Oct 06, 2001 - click here to read the article) by our learned rocket scientist in charge of rhetoric. While appreciating that the Minister has spoken (with the implicit sub-text that the boycott is working), some of his assertions demand a response.

Firstly, withholding one’s rates is not a criminal action but one that may result in a civil court action being brought by the City of Harare. I, for one, would welcome being taken to court so that the incompetence, illegitimacy and anti-democratic nature of the Commission running Harare can be exposed.

Does the Minister have such a limited understanding of the law as to believe a citizen can be "thrown in jail" for a civil debt until the law has run its course? I received summons for non-payment in May and have yet to have a court date. Perhaps the Minister could instruct his minions at Rowan Martin to expedite the matter?

Secondly, what exactly constitutes an average criminal to whom the Minister refers? Not presumably a reference to those members of the venal self-serving clique who purport to be running our country through a corrupt and disintegrating system of patronage and intimidation? Nor perhaps to those self-appointed guardians of the revolution who can only defend the indefensible by assaulting those who oppose them? I could understand the unelected minister’s pique at someone having the effrontery to challenge zanu pf’s monopoly on corruption. However I assure the Minister that I have no intention of not paying rates but I prefer to keep my contributions safe until we have an elected Council who will hopefully show some respect for the people who pay for the upkeep of our city. Unlike the current bunch of apparatchiks and party functionaries who are cooperating in the continuing decline in our city while their snouts are deeply buried in the feeding trough. Contrary to the Minister’s assertion that by not paying rates, the residents were acting like criminals "because their illegal actions constitute theft from law abiding citizens who are paying their lawful rates", those citizens who have had the courage to withhold rates are demonstrating their commitment to the city and are standing up to the rampant mis-governance at Town Hall. A percentage of the rates that are charged every month are in fact illegal and were ruled as such by the High Court in 1999 – it is the City that is acting unlawfully in continuing to collect these illegally levied rates.

Thirdly the tired reference to ethnicity tells us nothing except the unsustainable basis of Moyo’s assertions and the underlying bigotry of his social perceptions – the colour of our citizens is entirely irrelevant and any assertion to the contrary is misleading and duplicitous. Does Moyo believe that some citizens are more equal than others and that the paler members of our society should have no say in the running of Harare? If that were the case, surely he wouldn’t want our dirty money tainted as it is by coming through Rhodie hands? How does the minister know that we are the same people as those bemoaning the lack of the rule of law? Does the Minister know me somehow and my attitudes and loyalties? As for "becoming afraid of contesting free and fair democratic elections", please! It is exactly the failure of the government to allow the citizens of Harare to have any voice in the running of our city that has lead us to withhold rates until we have elections. Given the recent history of urban elections in Zimbabwe, I would believe that it is the unelected Minister and his government that are afraid of free and democratic elections.

As usual the Minister does not let his tenuous acquaintance with the facts stand in the way of his spittle-flecked invective spewed forth in the service of his masters.

Let the Minister instruct the City of Harare to cut off our water supplies. While I have been withholding my rates since July 2000, I have continued to pay for my water supplies and refuse collection (despite my misgivings about the lawfulness of the contracts governing the privatisation of refuse collection) and I would welcome the chance to take the Minister and the City to court if they do attempt to cut me off.

Finally the Minister’s call to cut off our electricity supplies demonstrates again his pitiful ignorance since electricity is supplied by ZESA and has absolutely nothing to do with the City of Harare. It is yet another from-the-hip statement that helps Moyo retain his current undisputed status as the Clown Prince of Zimbabwe – I will miss him dearly when his masters finally weary of his de-campaigning antics and toss him aside.

Mike Davies
Vice Chairman, Combined Harare Residents Association
Chairman, Highlands Ratepayers & Residents Association
P O Box HG 425
Highlands

The opinions expressed in this article are my personal observations and may not reflect the official thinking of the Combined Harare Residents Association or the Highlands Ratepayers & Residents Association.

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP