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Municipal monitor
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
July 19, 2011

This weeks' edition of the Municipal monitor recaps featured Local Governance stories as captured in the print media.

CHRA wants Chingombe fired - Daily News

http://dailynews.co.zw/index.php/news/34-news/3331-chra-wants-chingombe-fired.html

CHRA made calls for Mr Cainos Chingombe, the City's Human Resources Director to be fired. Mr Chingombe is alleged to have reinstated Council workers who have caused the loss of more than $4 Million United States dollars. The workers who left the local Authority in 2007 at the height of economic meltdown, left willingly, while some left for South-Africa were they sought greener pastures. Now they have returned haunting the already cash stripped Council, which is failing to even cater for its current human resource base and the Human Resource Director is simply welcoming them back at the expense of public revenue.

Land thieves to be summoned - The Zimbabwean

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/news/zimbabwe/50869/land-thieves-to-be-summoned.html

After reconstituting the land audit committee, City of Harare has compiled a comprehensive report and its now with an ad-hoc committee. CHRA had previously called for all those implicated in the land audit report to be brought to book instead of those who were involved in the investigations. This report is implicating businessman Phillip Chiyangwa and the Minister of Local Government Rural and Urban development Mr I. Chombo.

Harare residents gets raw deal - Daily News

CHRA wrote to the editor raising its position with regards to the proposed property seizure by Harare City Council. Over 5 000 residents face property seizure from Council over outstanding bills. However CHRA is challenging the local authority against the proposed action arguing that residents are the ones being owed by Council since some parts of Harare have gone for years without adequate service delivery.

Zanu PF terrorizes Mbare residents - Daily News

The Association conducted a survey whose findings were that Mbare Residents were living in perpetual fear because of ZANU PF sponsored violence. It was discovered that the infamous Chipangano, a ZANU PF terror group was intimidating and terrorizing Mbare residents and vendors. All market stalls were now under ZANU PF and it has since declared these as its district structures. The survey also exposed senior politicians involved in this operation

Chombo must be arrested - Daily News

Concerned by the amount of land and wealth the Minister has been accumulating illegally, CHRA made it public that the Minister must be arrested. This story unpacked the amount of land Chombo has in Harare, how he got the land and those that were involved in the illegal land deals. It went further to castigate the powers the Minister has such that he can block land allocation from going to tender and further make a declaration of intent on the same piece of land. Chombo is using state land swapping it with council land and not paying back the land borrowed from council. He uses land reserved for recreation, allocating it to his fellow friends.

Open letter to Harare special interest councilor Charles Nyachowe - Daily News

During a full Council meeting held at town house, special interest Councilor Charles Nyachowe behaved dramatically in Council by attacking the Mayor and elected Councilors at the expense of Harare residents. The meeting became a no-show, after the special interest Councilor marched out of the meeting. He blamed the Mayor for peddling MDC interests in council after the Mayor had advised that a delegation of MDC-T was visiting Town House. His interjections stalled progress for close to an hour, which could have been used to discuss service delivery issues. However, CHRA went on further to expose the Councilor arguing that his appointment is illegal because he has a past criminal record and has since served a jail term.

No love affair - Daily News

This article, written by Xolisani Ncube, narrated how progress was comprised within the Ministry of Local Government Rural and Urban Development through the sour relationship that exists between the Minister and his Deputy Sessel Zvidzai. The two share the same corridor and their offices are opposite each other but they hardly share a word.

Councilors must protect residents - Daily News

A concerned Harare resident wrote to the daily news urging Councilors to protect Residents from property seizure. The resident lamented the stance taken by Council adding that it was heartless and unfair for Residents to lose their property to Council because the Council itself owes Residents a lot at a time when services were not being rendered. He attacked the City treasury saying that his move was bent on impoverishing Harare Residents.

Mayor to investigate councilors' lifestyles - Herald

http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15211:mayor-to-investigate-councillors-lifestyle&catid=38:local-news&Itemid=131

Mayor Muchadei Masunda addressed journalists at town house indicating that he intended to investigate Councilors whose wealth has grown overnight. He described some Councilors saying that when they arrived at Town House they wore slippers and hardly had what they have today. This came amid calls by residents on the exorbitant expenditure and the rate at which councilors are travelling at the expense of service delivery.

Write off debts, ZESA told - Herald

http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15225:write-off-old-debts-zesa-told&catid=37:top-stories&Itemid=130

The High Court of Zimbabwe ruled that ZESA should write off debts and reimburse customers charged in United States Dollars before February 2009. The utility was directed to credit funds belonging customers who paid in US dollars before the mentioned date. ZESA is now required to revert to the USD$40 a month for consumers in low density suburbs and USD$30 for those in high density suburbs.

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