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Catalogue of Harare Commission's failures Harare has failed century
Farai Barnabas Mangodza, Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
April 28, 2006

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THE Commission running Harare has failed to address the continuing decline not only of service delivery but also of urban life in general. It is the Combined Harare Residents’ Association’s conviction that misplaced priorities, lack of strategic direction and piecemeal solutions are at the core of Harare’s decay.

It remains hazy as to which Strategic Turnaround Plan is being enforced or whether it’s a hybrid of various plans that have been proposed for the city.

The by-laws governing the City of Harare are substantially colonial and archaic. There is a need to repeal irrelevant by-laws, and up-date others.

Commissions are stopgap measures and should be reviewed so as to protect residents from overly ambitious politicians or political appointees. This is not about replacing one commission with another but having municipal elections timeously.

While the decay of Harare is evident for all to see, below are some of the facts on the ground to buttress this point. This also comes with an open invitation to the Parliamentary Committee on Local Government to tour some of the areas of Harare.

Refuse at public places like schools, business centres, market places, along roads, at street corners, in the industrial and in the Central Business District is piling up. More than 150 families live in plastic shacks along the Mukuvisi River in Glen Norah C where they drinking contaminated water.

Ardbennie Road from Mbare Musika is an eyesore. Raw sewage flows from 7th, 8th and other roads that join it. Children walk and play bare feet in the sewage. At Mbare National shopping complex, the public toilet outside is blocked and raw sewage flows. Inside the complex there are butcheries that operate adjacent to blocked toilets.

It has been brought to the attention of CHRA that the situation in Harare is certainly a time bomb waiting to explode.

In Rujeko Street, adjacent to Rujeko Poly-Clinic in Dzivarasekwa, raw sewage flows from the backyard of house Numbers 165-1, 2 and 3 with reckless abandon. Residents have placed stepping-stones in order to walk past the flowing streams of sewage.

Vendors sell their vegetables anywhere, despite the stinking environment.

Piles of refuse have continued to grow outside all schools, at main shopping centres, at the post office, at the community hall, along major roads and at intersections in residential areas in Kambuzuma.

Water was cut in Jo’burg Lines. Refuse continues to pile behind Blocks 3, 4, 7, 14 at Matapi Flats.

Piles of garbage are heaped opposite Mwamuka Service Station and raw sewage continues to flow from seventh, sixth, eighth and ninth streets. Reports to Mbare district office have yielded no results.

Burst sewer pipe just outside the Evangelical Kutenda Church have gone for six months without being repaired. Heaps of garbage continue to pile along Westwood Road, 10th Road, 3rd Street, outside Warren Park Clinic, outside Magamba Hall, at the shopping centre, just outside Warren Park Police Station, at the bus termini and at all major business centres.

Because of the above, Harare is a time bomb for cholera and dysentery outbreaks.

There has been no significant or qualitative improvement in the conditions of the city’s roads. The failure of the City to maintain roads increases not only damage to motor vehicles and risk to life but also opens the City to lawsuits by aggrieved motorists seeking compensation. Recently, the life of a child was lost in Waterfalls as the driver swerved off the road in an attempt to avoid a pothole.

Many intersections are now black spots due to overgrown and uncut grass. The risks to motorists and pedestrians are too ghastly to contemplate.

The quality of Harare water has been condemned on a number of occasions though there has been denial from some quarters. Many areas have gone for weeks without water. Priority must take effect to ensure that residents have safe water supplies instead of unprotected wells or rivers. Mabvuku and Tafara are clear cases in point.

The situation leaves a lot to be desired especially after "Operation Murambatsvina".

Not only has it become expensive to access medical care, service at municipal clinics has gone down and no drugs are obtainable from such institutions.

The Association also notes that input from other sectors is vital and only then can a holistic approach be implemented in addressing the challenges to local government.

Substantive or meaningful participation by the residents is vital and not the mere rubber stamping of legislation to safeguard short-term political gains. Local government is the cradle for good national governance and should be accorded its status in the national constitution.

As for Harare, Commissions are not a panacea to efficient and effective service delivery but municipal elections and a clear strategic direction that has buy-in from both state and non-state actors.

A broader policy and operational framework based on inclusivity and accountability should be established to ensure that the residents derive greater benefit from their city and have value for their hard-earned and fast "losing value" cash.

It is our belief that such levels of commitment to patriotism shall be met with equal political will and adequate resources in the hope of having, not piecemeal solutions, but comprehensive local government reforms that will go beyond political faces.

*Farai Barnabas Mangodza is CHRA Chief Executive Officer

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