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Bulawayo residents walk out on ZINWA-related budget meeting
Freeman Masuku and Janet Mudzviti, Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD)
October 12, 2007

A Council 2008 Budget consultative meeting with stakeholders failed to kickoff yesterday on October 10, 2007 at the Large City Hall after residents protested against the inclusion of ZINWA rates in the 2008 budget in the event that it took over the running of water and sewer.

The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) Budget Committee headed by the Deputy Mayor had difficulties trying to control residents barely ten minutes into the meeting. Trouble started when one of the councilors rolled out figures that included percentage increments in tariffs in the event that ZINWA took over. The situation was aggravated when the newly employed Town clerk, Mr. Donga said it was inevitable that ZINWA was going to take over as they had already taken over 95% of Zimbabwe's city water and sewer reticulation and that they (BCC) had already sent a steering committee to the local government complex to discuss the modalities of the takeover. It is clear that the council has thrown in the towel and is secretly discussing the take over of water and sewer reticulation. The residents have been left out and will indeed only find themselves counting the social and economic costs of such a decision.

This infuriated residents who argued that they had not authorized the council to cooperate with ZINWA as the water belonged to the people of Bulawayo. The chair of the meeting tried in vain to sideline the ZINWA takeover issue saying this was not the platform to discuss ZINWA but residents were adamant that as long as the budget had a ZINWA element in it the meeting would not proceed.

The meeting was then stopped with the residents vowing to continue the fight against ZINWA. It was agreed that an all stakeholders public meeting was to be called to discuss the latest developments and the way forward.

This development comes barely one week after a ZIMCODD public meeting held at Amakhosi Theatre Centre discussed the Bulawayo water crisis and the ZINWA takeover issue with residents vowing to intensify their fight against ZINWA.

Meanwhile, a consortium of private companies led by Delma Lupepe has tabled the so-called 'ambitious' proposal to ease the water crises, so they say. Clearly this will now draw a line between residents who are fighting against the privatization of their water and business who are already positioning themselves to be included in the 'cake'.

The fight against ZINWA has now reached a critical moment. Local Government Minister, Dr Ignatius Chombo has already written to council threatening that they should handover or else ZINWA will take over by force. The new Clerk is at the edge and the council has turned around on its decision never to hand over water to ZINWA. The time has come that civic organizations organize residents in a massive fight against ZINWA. This could also present an opportunity for building massive resistance against repression and autocracy.

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