Staff Reporter
Harare residents have described the Harare City Council as a ‘den of corrupt officials’ following the allocation of a residential stand in a busy tarred road in Glen Norah.
The stinking corruption and maladministration of the City fathers came to the fore over the weekend when comedian Timothy "Timmy" Tapfumaneyi of the "Timmy na Bonzo" fame shot a short video clip blaming the corrupt council officials for disregarding city by-laws.
"I am in Glen Norah A, Chitubu area, Nharira Crescent where I grew up. I decided to visit my childhood area, but I was shocked to see a house being constructed in the middle of a road. This is the way we would use going to the Chitubu Shopping Centre, but now there is a house. The council has gone to the dogs. We need new leadership," said Tapfumaneyi.
Investigations by this publication revealed that the owner of the controversial residential stand is a member of the MDC Alliance who had links with the dethroned Harare Mayor Herbert Gomba. Investigations further revealed that the residential stand was not on the City’s master plan and it was corruptly allocated to the MDC Alliance member after the intervention of that party’s heavy weight (name withheld).
However, residents of Glen Norah have vowed to take the law into their own hands if Council fails to demolish the illegal structure by the end of this week.
“We are giving Council seven days to demolish the illegal structure. Failure to do so, we will be left with no option but to demolish the structure ourselves. We are fed up with corruption happening at the City Council,” fumed the resident who declined to be named.
Another resident, Malaika Zimuto, castigated the Council for being corrupt and said that it should be dissolved as it has failed to perform its mandate to the satisfaction of residents.
“I think this is the worst local authority in the whole country. The corruption at City Council has reached stinking levels. How can a stand be allocated in a busy road? We need new councillors and I urge the government to install a Caretaker Commission to run the affairs of Harare until next elections,” said Zimuto.
The City of Harare responded to the article in the local publication which covered the story on their Twitter handle saying “There is nothing amiss with the stands. They were properly allocated”.
The tweet further raised the ire of citizens and netizen Nobleman Runyanga was quoted saying “Everything is amiss not just with the allocation of residential stands on roads, but with an empty-headed municipal functionary defending the indefensible. Only a shameless Zimbo would willfully associate with and defend such corrupt and unprofessional municipal conduct.”
Whilst wisebird@jo10287 replied to the tweet “you are a joke, for so many years it was a road and now it’s a stand and u saying that’s normal”
Efforts to get further clarification from Council spokesperson Michael Chideme and
Combined Harare Residents Association programmes manager Mr Rueben Akili were futile as their mobile phones were not reachable.
