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Political frustration premonition haunts political rejects
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
August 31, 2006

Dear Editor,

Thank you editor for allowing us this imperative space and opportunity to respond to malevolent allegations peddled by honorable MP Trudy Stevenson in the article titled Civic Society threatened by political incest which appeared in your widely read sovereign newspaper issue on August 18 - 24 2006.

The honorable MP made assertions to the effect that the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) changed its constitution earlier this year to ensure non-partisanship and that its new structures are in many wards led by MDC-Tsvangirai office bearers. She further mentions that its representative to the Zimbabwe United Residents Association (ZURA), Mr. E. Chiroto is the MDC-Tsvangirai organizing secretary for Harare North and that its representative to the NCA is or certainly was until recently MDC-Tsvangirai secretary for Harare province.

Whilst it is certainly everyone's right to be entitled to opinion, it is grossly unfortunate especially for the leadership, which is vested with trust to deliberately misrepresent facts and abuse public platforms for political expediency. As a matter of fact, it is true that the CHRA changed its constitution earlier this year, however to ensure non-partisanship was never CHRA's prime objective of the constitutional reform process. This however should not be misconstrued to mean that the issue was silent and neither is it not of substance considering the nature of our work.

The continued enactment of repressive legislation closing civic space, unparalleled victimization, promiscuous indulgence by the Minister of Local government in the running of local authorities i.e. willy-nilly dismissal of elected representatives and continued re-appointment of commissioners thereby creating a gap between residents and council in terms of reporting structures, epileptic deterioration of service delivery, declining voices of local residents associations and the unequivocal necessity to safeguard the fundamentals of good governance, transparency and accountability through reorganizing residents voices combine to inform the CHRA reform process.

The Combined Harare Residents Association has traditionally been an umbrella association coordinating the activities of local residents associations. The constitutional reform process has seen the organisation establishing ward structures across the forty-five municipal wards. In so doing every resident of Harare can now join CHRA as an individual member within his or her ward irrespective of their political affiliation.

CHRA does not discriminate membership along political lines. We are committed to serve the interests of Harare residents across the political divide and that we will do without fear no matter the amount of name-calling. Water cuts, sewer pipe burst, cholera out breaks too will never discriminate across political party affiliations.

Section 8.2.5 of the CHRA constitution as amended on the 8th of April 2006 states that 'No office bearer of any political party, a holder of public office or organizational trustee or employee of central or local government or parastatal shall be eligible for election to the posts of Chairperson or Vice-chairperson of standing committees'. Unfortunately it is the wisdom of ignorance or lack of it to then interpret the meaning of the clause beyond its defined limitation as the honorable MP would like. In any case the assertion that majority of CHRA ward structures are led by MDC-Tsvangirai office bearers remains false and unfounded though not a transgression. In fact the honorable MP could have been at liberty to substantiate the claim as she does so to mention that the CHRA representative to ZURA Mr. E. Chiroto is the MDC-Tsvangirai organizing secretary for Harare North.

Further, the CHRA representative to the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) is Ms T. C. Jiri who has never been a political office bearer in the MDC unless if she changed her name. That again can not be, Ms Jiri joined the association since its formation and until the time she was appointed representative to the NCA she has never been elected neither contested an MDC post. Ms Stephenson should be honorable enough to say the truths as she supposedly believes in the bible as she would like us believe.

One will not wonder where Ms Stevenson's grief comes from if you were to understand that Ms Stevenson is a member of the Combined Harare Residents Association and she used to chair the Legal Committee up until she fell by the way side when the constitution was amended to disallow members occupying political party office to be elected chair of vice chair of CHRA standing committees. It is unfortunate when political frustration premonitions are being camouflaged as sincere contribution while premised upon false expositions.

As such a persons who 'believes' in civic society non-partisanship Ms Stevenson has approached CHRA to use their offices (Pro-senate Movement for Democratic Change) for disseminating information. To maintain our non-partisanship stance, which we also seem to share with Ms Stevenson form her article we clarified to her that this was going to compromise the position of the association in line with the principles of autonomy and non-partisanship which we firmly believe in. So we do we seem to differ then? The issue of substance here is not political incest but political frustrations.

*Jabusile Madyazvimbishi Shumba is the CHRA Advocacy and Training Officer

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