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Plans to name road after Tsvangirai
06 Mar 2018 at 09:16hrs | Views
Harare councillors have proposed to name one of the streets in the CBD after the late opposition MDC founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai - who died last month aged 65 after a long battle with colon cancer - is credited for changing the face of Zimbabwean politics after winning against deposed long-ruling Robert Mugabe in the 2008 elections.
During a full council meeting last week Friday, Rugare councillor Peter Moyo said council must honour Tsvangirai, who was denied national hero status, despite massive calls by public.
"Before we start the business of the day, let me state that I think the city should honour the late Tsvangirai by naming a road after him.
"We cannot ignore the fact that Tsvangirai has contributed immensely to the development and democracy of Zimbabwe," Moyo said.
He added that the late opposition leader's contribution to the improvement of the lives of Zimbabweans could not be left unnoticed.
Greendale councillor Stewart Mutizwa seconded the motion, which was later said to be addressed by the MDC-run council formally.
The proposal comes as councillors have argued that road naming should be left to local authorities after the unofficial naming of the civic centre adjacent to the Harare Magistrates Courts, which most MDC supporters call the Freedom Square while others refer to it as the Robert Mugabe Square.
Glen Norah councillor Herbert Gomba has argued that public places should not be named after little-known politicians.
"The civic centre is called so many names that we do not know what to call it. Can we be weary of naming our streets and spaces after fly-by-night politicians?
"We need to lead by example and show some semblance of order in the way we do our things.
"We cannot have people who are not elected councillors bulldozing the names of areas for us. Let us not name streets after people who are popular for a season," he said.
Tsvangirai - who died last month aged 65 after a long battle with colon cancer - is credited for changing the face of Zimbabwean politics after winning against deposed long-ruling Robert Mugabe in the 2008 elections.
During a full council meeting last week Friday, Rugare councillor Peter Moyo said council must honour Tsvangirai, who was denied national hero status, despite massive calls by public.
"Before we start the business of the day, let me state that I think the city should honour the late Tsvangirai by naming a road after him.
"We cannot ignore the fact that Tsvangirai has contributed immensely to the development and democracy of Zimbabwe," Moyo said.
He added that the late opposition leader's contribution to the improvement of the lives of Zimbabweans could not be left unnoticed.
Greendale councillor Stewart Mutizwa seconded the motion, which was later said to be addressed by the MDC-run council formally.
The proposal comes as councillors have argued that road naming should be left to local authorities after the unofficial naming of the civic centre adjacent to the Harare Magistrates Courts, which most MDC supporters call the Freedom Square while others refer to it as the Robert Mugabe Square.
Glen Norah councillor Herbert Gomba has argued that public places should not be named after little-known politicians.
"The civic centre is called so many names that we do not know what to call it. Can we be weary of naming our streets and spaces after fly-by-night politicians?
"We need to lead by example and show some semblance of order in the way we do our things.
"We cannot have people who are not elected councillors bulldozing the names of areas for us. Let us not name streets after people who are popular for a season," he said.
Source - dailynews
