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Kanyenye's appointment a no show
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
June 20, 2012

The Minister of Local Government Rural and Urban Development, Dr. I. Chombo has appointed Allied Timber Group Chief Executive Officer as special interest councilor of Harare city council. In his letter of appointment, Minister Chombo acknowledged that Dr. Kanyekanye will be entitled to the same benefits that befit those of elected councilors except that he will not be in a position to vote. Kanyekanye is replacing Charles Nyachowe, an ex-convict who was appointed by the minister to act as a special interest councilor.

Residents who were briefed on the current development have described the recent move by the minister as a non event given that there was no consultation and that there is really nothing special about this individual that can really address the current human resource deficits amongst the current crop of councilors. Residents especially women, have castigated the minister saying that there is a clear lack of gender balance in council and one would have hoped that the minister would have consulted them on the capacity needs before appointing Kanyekanye. This was the case in his previous appointment where he was found wanting after appointing Charles Nyachowe who served a previous jail term. Other appointments that were done by the minister exhibited links of individuals who were closer to ZANU PF and this satisfied the notion that the minister is bent on closing the losses that his party of affiliation, ZANU PF encountered during the previous election in 2008.

The association maintains that before any appointment, the minister should consult critical stakeholders which should include residents, residents associations and community based organizations. We are fully cognizant that the current act empowers the minister to make unilateral appointments without consulting anyone but this has proved to be chaotic because his previous appointees have not done anything meaningful in council except baying for the head of our elected mayor as was the case of Charles.

Acknowledging the current crisis that we are encountering in our local government system, we remain resolute that the process of amending the urban councils act must remain on course. The minister has too much power which has resulted in a one man show and residents and other critical stakeholders at local level have failed to locate their role in local governance.

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