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Makwavarara Commission to be reappointed
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
November 15, 2005

CHRA has never had any illusions about the sinister intentions of the regime regarding local authorities. Murambatsvina demonstrated that the regime is quite prepared to reduce Harare and other urban centres literally to rubble. Chombo has consistently denied residents their democratic voice as enshrined in our Constitution and the Urban Councils Act. The re-appointment of the Makwavarara Commission merely serves to emphasise the regime's contempt for our rights.

By extending the term of the illegal Harare commission, Chombo has demonstrated to the whole world that the regime that he represents has scant regard for the rule of law. The Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29:15) explicitly states that once the term of commissioners has expired after six months, it cannot be extended beyond a further thee months.

In her recent judgment (Zvobgo vs the City of Harare (HC 12862/00), Justice Makarau ruled that the re-appointment of commissions remains unlawful, reaffirming the prior judgment of Justice Sandura in 2002 (Stevenson vs the Minister of Local Government and others (SC 38/02). In his judgment, Justice Sandura said, "Consequently, the Minister could not avoid having a general election of councillors by continually re-appointing the commissioners. In my view, section 80 (5) of the Urban Councils' Act was not enacted for that purpose. The power given to the minister by that section was intended for use, as a temporary measure, during the period preceding the holding of elections as required by the Electoral Act. The re-appointments of the commissioners were therefore illegal."

CHRA stands guided too by a earlier judgment by Justice Hungwe (CHRA & Anr vs the Registrar-General HC 210/2001) when he said: "The matter which gave urgency to the inception of this application at least from the papers was that the term of office of the current Commissioners expires at the end of December 2001. There is a real danger that should there be no duly elected mayor in office by 31st December 2001, then the City of Harare will grind to a halt as it will not be legally able to expend any money for any purpose. This fear arises from the fact that the Minister cannot lawfully re-appoint Commissioners ad infinitum. Any such re-appointment is illegal."

Chombo continues to misinterpret the Act mendaciously, resulting in continuing and considerable prejudice to residents.

The courts however have not given any relief to residents. The inordinate delay in hearing our current case (CHRA & Anr vs The Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission & 9 Ors HC.2587/05) is a case in point. An urgent application was filed on 7 June seeking relief from the imminent re-appointment of the Commission. Two months later, the application was deemed not urgent without any reasons being provided. A further three months' later, the substantive case has yet to be heard yet the High Court rushed to give judgment in the case of Sikhala vs Tsvangirai, a trivial matter affecting few people that should have been dealt with internally by the MDC. In contrast, Makwavarara and her fellow commissioners continue to destroy our city while spending our money with no accountability except perhaps to their political masters. We regard the tardiness of the courts as implicit confirmation of the correctness of our submissions.

Residents continue to pay for collapsed service delivery. Refuse collection has effectively ceased throughout Harare. Water shortages have crippled household and industrial activities and contributed to an unfolding health crisis.. The supplementary budget has been imposed on residents without following the proper procedures. Critical services such as Fire and Ambulances are not operating at a fraction of their capacity or demand. Makwavarara wastes our money travelling to Moscow while our children are dying for want of clean water.

Although the legal process is costly, slow, flawed and frustrating, CHRA will continue to seek relief in the courts, if only to demonstrate our commitment to the rule of law in the face of a regime that clearly does not share our principles. We will do what we can to establish good governance in the capital and elsewhere in our country but this is not a battle we can fight alone. We urge residents to participate in whatever way they can. It is time for responsible citizens to speak out and be heard. Even more effectively we must exercise our financial power and withhold rates and other charges whenever possible until there is a legitimate Council and Mayor in charge at Town House.

The illegal Commission has failed to run the affairs of Harare and should be removed before inflicting further misery to residents. Makwavarara and her fellow puppets should not stay a day longer at Town House. They have caused irreparable damage to our city and our communities.

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