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City of Harare stepping on residents' toes now
Harare Residents
Trust (HRT)
October 08, 2010
The Harare Residents'
Trust (HRT) rejects the so-called pre-budget consultative meetings
which the City of Harare has scheduled to begin Monday 11 October
2010 through to 19 October 2010 across the capital ahead of the
council's adoption of the 2011 City Budget. These meetings
are cosmetic as they lack the necessary publicity and support of
the elected councillors. This confirms what we have always said,
that the power and authority of our elected representatives has
been subverted by a clique of technocrats only concerned with enriching
themselves at the expense of the residents.
The consultative
meetings come at a time the City has been charging exorbitant rates
for services not rendered to the residents of Harare. It is also
important to note that the consultative meetings are being spearheaded
by City Heads of Departments who are earning salaries ranging between
US$10 000 to US$15 500 every month, yet the majority of residents
are unable to pay for such necessities as food, rates and rentals,
electricity, education for school children.
The same bureaucrats
have presided over the collapse of service provision in Harare owing
to greediness, acts of alleged corruption, nepotism and downright
sabotaging of the councillors' mandate to effectively represent
the residents of Harare. The question that begs an answer is: how
was the budget that is going to be discussed at these consultative
meetings formulated? Whose interests are these city bureaucrats
serving if they cannot afford the residents or the councillors an
opportunity to contribute towards budget formulation at the initial
stages? The HRT objects to these cosmetic consultations which render
public participation irrelevant, and of no material significance
in the final drafting of the 2011 City Budget.
The HRT is aware
of the evil intentions of the City Heads of departments who believe
that they have a right to impose their theoretical estimations on
the people, in the process safeguarding their huge salaries and
allowances. They have assigned 48 city workers, split into four
teams that will convene these cosmetic consultations meetings in
the various district offices starting from Monday through to 19
October 2010.
While the City
of Harare has officially refused to release the schedule of its
intended consultative meetings to the HRT, reasonable and sympathetic
employees have nevertheless given us the schedule. According to
template invitation letters extended to residents in their respective
wards, purporting to be written by the respective ward councillor,
the city workers are using the councillors as a shield from expected
criticisms of the approach and proposed figures.
Given
these issues the HRT makes the following recommendations:
- That every
household receiving a council bill should receive a letter of
invitation to these consultative meetings. The City should first
publicise these meetings before just waltzing into our communities
and leave without getting substantial input from the residents
who constantly bore the brunt of erratic water supplies, poor
service delivery and exorbitant and unjustified rates for services
not rendered.
- Residents
should throng the venues of these meetings and demand transparency
and accountability in the budget making process.
- The City
of Harare should re-convene any of the scheduled meetings that
have an attendance less than 200 residents. Anything less is superfluous
and unacceptable.
Failure to listen,
on the part of the City workers will leave the HRT with one option-
to make budget adoption a living nightmare for the City fathers
who are allowing themselves to be abused by these greedy workers.
Contact the
HRT on 0912869 294/ 0912771860 or email us on hretrust@yahoo.com
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