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Residents register their discontent with corruption
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
December 07, 2010

The residents of Harare, in conjunction with the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA), braved the rainy weather and conducted a successful march in the City centre in protest against corruption in Local Government.

The march, in which more than 500 residents participated, was prompted by the revelations made by the City of Harare Land Audit; the recent firing of nine Harare Councilors by Minister Chombo on flimsy grounds as well as the shocking revelations of Minister Chombo's numerous properties in Harare and other Local Authorities.

Residents converged at Town House, then marched into Julius Nyerere, Nelson Mandela and gathered at Africa Unity square singing protest songs against Minister Chombo's continuous interference with the affairs of Local Authorities. The CHRA Chairperson, Simbarashe Moyo, then addressed residents and highlighted the following issues:

• Some of the Harare Councilors who are being accused of corruptly acquiring Council houses have been fired; they are going through two (2) rigorous investigations that have milked the City of Harare of money that should have gone to service delivery. Minister Chombo and Chiyangwa are facing even more serious allegations of corruptly acquiring land but they have never been investigated.
• The City of Harare has a staggering housing waiting list of about 700 000 and victims of Operation Murambatsvina are still homeless because Council has no land on which to build houses yet there is incriminating evidence that the Minister of Local Government owns vast tracts of land in the City e.g. in Glen Lorne where he has ten stands, Crowhill Borrowdale where he has 20 stands, among others.
• Residents demand that Minister Chombo should be suspended pending investigations into his corrupt acquisition of Harare land
• The Councilors who were fired by Minister Chombo should be reinstated as the residents who elected them into office still want them to perform their duties. The Minister is out of touch of the residents' interests because if he was, he would not have fired the Harare Councilors.
• The current collapse of service delivery in Harare and the acute housing problems being faced in the City are a result of corruption and abuse of public office.
• The incapacity of Councilors to effectively represent the interests of residents is a result of the Minister's heavy interference in the affairs of Local Authorities as well as his excessive powers that have made him the final decisive power in all local governance issues.
• Minister Chombo must stop being the plaintiff and the judge at the same time by appointing investigation Committees to investigate Councilors in cases he is implicated. The Investigation Committees must be set up by the Portfolio Committee on Local Government as the minister is an interested.
• The CHRA Chairperson, Mr. Simbarashe Moyo together with the Programmes Chairperson, Evernice Munando then went to the Prime Minister's office to submit the residents' petition; imploring the office of the Prime Minister to intervene and bring sanity to the chaos that Minister Chombo has brought into the local governance sector.
• CHRA remains committed to advocating for good, transparent and accountable local governance and lobbying for quality municipal services on a non partisan basis.

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