Suspended Harare mayor not fully supported by fellow councillors

Harare Residents Trust has claimed that the suspended Mayor of Harare Councillor Bernard Manyenyeni has not received the full support of his fellow councillors because the majority are;

The trust said during the discharge of his Mayoral duties, the Councillors claim that he never valued their input, and would usually announce things during meetings, which made the majority of them feel marginalised.

"Like his predecessor before him, he relied too much on other people outside the council system to make important decisions. The Mayor position is ceremonial, and has been rendered powerless through the Urban Councils Act," said the trust.

"The HRT however believes that the suspended Mayor was far much better from the previous Mayors in terms of his availability to different stakeholders. He was very good with; engagement of stakeholders, and the HRT enjoyed good access to his office to share concerns, make suggestions, and also get updates on developments in the Council. The only shortcoming was the secretive approach to public interest issues."

The trust said the Mayor managed to steer the exit of the former Town Clerk working with all parties involved.

"This was very necessary and timely done. Councillor Bernard Manyenyeni was very reliable when it came to attending meetings organised by residents. The decision of the Minister to suspend Mayor Manyenyeni was wrong, harsh and ill-advised," said the trust. "None of the serving Councillos must feel safe from the receiving the same treatment, and the HRT urges the Councillors to make policy decisions to raise these issues through their Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ) and other official processes so that they are not left vulnerable to ministerial directives."