News / Local
Councillors have a right to lease or buy commercial stands - Harare mayor Manyenyeni
22 Dec 2015 at 06:10hrs | Views
Harare City Council Bernard Manyenyeni has said the councillors have a right to lease or buy commercial stands like any other resident.
This was after a resident Austin Chimwaza asked the mayor that is it in the council's charter that every councillor the moment he holds office has the right time to acquire land.
"I'm ashamed all the previous councillors did that if it can be brought to public for scrutiny you'll find its correct that every application or allocation appoints to the time he was in office," he said.
But Manyenyeni said there is a ministerial circular from 2011 reviewed in 2014 providing guidelines for residential stands for councillors.
"As for commercial stands a councillor has the same rights as any other applicant to lease or buy. This must be done within reason and with disclosure and recusal. It must be in line with governance norms," he said.
"Being close to the action councillors are likely to have unfair advantage and access to information and opportunities."
He said under my term as mayor: "I first of all suspended the residential stands for councillors using the 2011 circular until it was renewed by the minister in 2014. Earlier this year I requested all councillors to declare all council stands/properties/leases they got whether in their names, companies, trusts, relatives or companies etc for my own comfort and for permanent record. The responses have not been total in number. As leader of council I declared areas of potential conflict of interest when I was elected mayor and also when I recently joined a leading estate agency."
This was after a resident Austin Chimwaza asked the mayor that is it in the council's charter that every councillor the moment he holds office has the right time to acquire land.
"I'm ashamed all the previous councillors did that if it can be brought to public for scrutiny you'll find its correct that every application or allocation appoints to the time he was in office," he said.
But Manyenyeni said there is a ministerial circular from 2011 reviewed in 2014 providing guidelines for residential stands for councillors.
"Being close to the action councillors are likely to have unfair advantage and access to information and opportunities."
He said under my term as mayor: "I first of all suspended the residential stands for councillors using the 2011 circular until it was renewed by the minister in 2014. Earlier this year I requested all councillors to declare all council stands/properties/leases they got whether in their names, companies, trusts, relatives or companies etc for my own comfort and for permanent record. The responses have not been total in number. As leader of council I declared areas of potential conflict of interest when I was elected mayor and also when I recently joined a leading estate agency."
Source - Byo24News
