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Report on Kambuzuma focus group discussion
Harare Residents' Trust (HRT)
December 06, 2012

A Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was held in Kambuzuma on 7 November 2012 in line with one of the organisation's objectives 'to empower citizens to demand accountability from council leadership and service providers.' The HRT co-founder Mrs Constance Shumba, Assistant Membership Officer Ms Regina Bakuri and the Southern District Community Coordinator Ms Sandra Rupiya attended the meeting, organised by residents in the area. The meeting was attended by 23 residents comprising 21 females and 2 males. The meeting started at 1000 hours with a prayer from Fungai Manwa.

HRT introduced

The Assistant Membership Officer introduced the HRT saying it remains a non-partisan organisation that only deals with residents' service delivery concerns. She outlined the organisation's mission, vision, and values and provided some background information. She said the organisation conducts various community activities through the leadership at community level, but it only facilitated these to ensure there is full participation of all people.

Women's Desk

Mrs Shumba said residents be very active and demand their space within communities and not wait for things to get bad before they become involved. She urged people to internalise the proposed slogan of "Mugari ngwara- chiedza kumugari" and make sense of it, and if it did not mean much then they had a responsibility of developing it further to capture their aspirations. This way, she said, they would be well-prepared to demand and claim their rights within their own communities. She shared the bitterness of Crowborough residents who were critical of the Waste Management department for demanding payment of bills before they gave residents plastic bins. The HRT is happy to report that after residents' issues were tabled before the city council officials, the residents were invited to collect refuse collection bins, something that is very positive. As residents you must ask for transparency and accountability from City of Harare because they are sending us final demands for services they have failed to provide. "As Residents, we must unite and fight for what is ours. There are some people who expect to be given money for them to demand their rights, by who. That is being irresponsible for a person who has a serious problem to expect that an organisation would give you money to attend a meeting or to demonstrate against the service providers." Residents are drinking dirty water as a result of burst water pipes, and leakages of valve chambers along the distribution network. The residents have to increase their demand for clean water and the scrapping of all debt from February 2009 to December 2010. The residents' demonstration was at Town House, now it has to be brought to the District Offices where the council receives money from the communities. They must be made aware that they cannot continue to trample on residents' rights and provoke no response. United, we have the power in our numbers to influence change that we desire in Harare, she said. She said the residents must keep in mind that the Deputy Mayor Mr Emmanuel Chiroto promised that by 30 November 2012, they would have engaged residents to discuss their problems. It is time to hold them accountable and make them realise that residents have the power and capacity to change the relations between service providers and citizens. Mrs Shumba urged residents to rise up and demonstrate against service providers who fail to satisfy residents' demands because engagement has not yielded the massive results expected. Mwana asingachemi anofira mumbereko- we must unite and rise up to show our public displeasure. Mrs Constance Shumba thanked all those who participated in the ball games and promised to invite numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 to receive their tokens of appreciation at the Annual Convention. In 2013, she said, young girls should not be allowed to play netball or soccer together with the elderly grandmothers like the 80 year old grandmother who was in attendance at the FGD. She invited ladies to attend the HRT kitchen top-up party to be held at the HRT offices on 1 December 2012, but men will be excluded at this party.

Plenary

Mrs Mildred Zulu, a resident in the area said: "marara vanombodarikira asi sondo rino vakauya vanofanira kuuya chipiri ndipo patinobudisa mabin asi kazhinji vanozouya chitatu pasina kana bin rinenge riri panze, zvoreva kuti vanhu vanorasira marara pese-pese." (This week they came on Tuesday but at times they do not come they will come on Wednesday and mostly no bins would be available resulting in residents dumping refuse everywhere.)

• There are some houses which have gone for a month without water near the Roman Catholic Church in Section 5.
• There are houses in Gutu Avenue and Kashangura Street which do not receive water at all especially House Number 417.
• Fungai Nyarufero said: "ukaripota nyaya yemasewage vanoda kupiwa mari vanozogadzira vacho vachizviti maprivate plumber ivo vari vashandi vekanzuru." (On sewerage repairs the City employees demand money from residents. The city council plumbers call themselves private plumbers yet we know them as council employees. This is corruption.)

Committee setting up

The residents elected their substantive committee this is the Kambuzuma section 2 committee.

Visit the Harare Residents' Trust fact sheet

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