News / National
Knives out for Harare mayor
25 Jan 2015 at 11:24hrs | Views
The MDC Renewal Team yesterday called for the immediate resignation of Harare mayor Bernard Manyenyeni and instructed its lawyers to sue his council and Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo for dereliction of duty through failure to address service delivery in Harare.
The party's local government secretary Benison Ntini said Harare has become one of the dirtiest cities in Africa because of negligence by the MDC-T dominated council. He said the capital city was now the worst-run city in the country.
"The MDC Renewal Team will on behalf of the suffering residents, start legal proceedings against the Harare City Council and all those elected to serve the citizens of Harare. The Renewal Team has approached its lawyers on behalf of suffering residents, to sue the Harare City Council for among other things, the dereliction of duty and the breach of the constitution," Ntini said.
"We are citing Article 4 of The Bill of Rights, which states that housing and clean water are a basic human right," Ntini added.
"Manyenyeni will be the first respondent, Chombo and his ministry second and third respondents respectively, because they are the supervisors of the councils. They too are responsible for the dirty and unhealthy Harare that we see today."
He accused elected councillors of being "bystanders as they watch the dwindling service delivery" instead of acting in the best interests of the citizens.
"Most painfully, the water itself is not clean and [is] unsafe to drink. Also to note is council's inability to collect refuse in the residential areas and keep the city clean. Harare has been turned into one of the dirtiest cities in Africa," he said.
"We reiterate that the mayor of Harare, Bernard Manyenyeni should step down from the position of mayor of Harare. He has failed to lead and control the city council. He should step down instead of giving the residents never ending excuses of how his hands are tied," he added.
Manyenyeni was not immediately available for comment but he is on record saying Harare was a victim of mismanagement by central government since his council did not operate in a vacuum.
The party's local government secretary Benison Ntini said Harare has become one of the dirtiest cities in Africa because of negligence by the MDC-T dominated council. He said the capital city was now the worst-run city in the country.
"The MDC Renewal Team will on behalf of the suffering residents, start legal proceedings against the Harare City Council and all those elected to serve the citizens of Harare. The Renewal Team has approached its lawyers on behalf of suffering residents, to sue the Harare City Council for among other things, the dereliction of duty and the breach of the constitution," Ntini said.
"We are citing Article 4 of The Bill of Rights, which states that housing and clean water are a basic human right," Ntini added.
"Manyenyeni will be the first respondent, Chombo and his ministry second and third respondents respectively, because they are the supervisors of the councils. They too are responsible for the dirty and unhealthy Harare that we see today."
He accused elected councillors of being "bystanders as they watch the dwindling service delivery" instead of acting in the best interests of the citizens.
"Most painfully, the water itself is not clean and [is] unsafe to drink. Also to note is council's inability to collect refuse in the residential areas and keep the city clean. Harare has been turned into one of the dirtiest cities in Africa," he said.
"We reiterate that the mayor of Harare, Bernard Manyenyeni should step down from the position of mayor of Harare. He has failed to lead and control the city council. He should step down instead of giving the residents never ending excuses of how his hands are tied," he added.
Manyenyeni was not immediately available for comment but he is on record saying Harare was a victim of mismanagement by central government since his council did not operate in a vacuum.
Source - thestandard
