News / National
Bulawayo ordered to name street after Uhuru Kunyatta
06 Apr 2022 at 20:39hrs | Views
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa's government has ordered the Bulawayo City council to rename one of the city's major roads after Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Kenyatta is set to visit Zimbabwe's second largest city where he will officially open the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) to run from April 26 and 30.
Local Government minister July Moyo wrote to Bulawayo Mayor Solomon Mguni directing the city fathers to expeditiously rename the street.
"We have received a request to name a street in the City of Bulawayo after President of Kenya, His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta in terms of Names (Alterations) Act Chapter 10:14. This process should coincide with the state visit by His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta in April," Moyo wrote.
"It is again during this visit that while he is guest of honour at the ZITF, he will plant a tree and you are requested to provide suggestions of a location for the tree planting. Your Worship, you are asked to treat this matter with the urgency it deserves," Moyo's letter reads.
The issue was recently deliberated by the council's General Purposes Committee which approved the request. The committee identified Hillside Road (14th Avenue to Cecil Avenue) Banff Road (Cecil Avenue to Hillside Dams) and King George Avenue (Harare Road to Esigodini Road).
In its report, the committee said the local authority reserved the prerogative to choose which road to rename.
Minutes of the committee's meeting indicate that there was a heated debate over the issue, with one of the members councillor Silas Chigora objecting to the move.
"Councillor S. Chigora, whilst acknowledging that this was a central government initiative that council had to consider, raised concern over acceding to the request. He was however of the view that this could set a wrong precedent that every president who officiated at ZITF would have a street named in their honour. This was a matter of concern that had to be addressed before it become a tradition," the minutes read.
Ward Seven councillor Shadreck Sibanda also raised concern over the proposed renaming.
He felt that renaming streets such as King George Avenue and Cecil Avenue was an act of erasing the city's rich history.
After heated deliberations, council then resolved to rename Hillside Road.
The councillors also recommended that Burnside Road from Cecil Avenue to Bulawayo Drive be renamed after former Rhodesian Prime Minister Sir Garfield Todd.
Kenyatta is set to visit Zimbabwe's second largest city where he will officially open the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) to run from April 26 and 30.
Local Government minister July Moyo wrote to Bulawayo Mayor Solomon Mguni directing the city fathers to expeditiously rename the street.
"We have received a request to name a street in the City of Bulawayo after President of Kenya, His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta in terms of Names (Alterations) Act Chapter 10:14. This process should coincide with the state visit by His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta in April," Moyo wrote.
"It is again during this visit that while he is guest of honour at the ZITF, he will plant a tree and you are requested to provide suggestions of a location for the tree planting. Your Worship, you are asked to treat this matter with the urgency it deserves," Moyo's letter reads.
The issue was recently deliberated by the council's General Purposes Committee which approved the request. The committee identified Hillside Road (14th Avenue to Cecil Avenue) Banff Road (Cecil Avenue to Hillside Dams) and King George Avenue (Harare Road to Esigodini Road).
Minutes of the committee's meeting indicate that there was a heated debate over the issue, with one of the members councillor Silas Chigora objecting to the move.
"Councillor S. Chigora, whilst acknowledging that this was a central government initiative that council had to consider, raised concern over acceding to the request. He was however of the view that this could set a wrong precedent that every president who officiated at ZITF would have a street named in their honour. This was a matter of concern that had to be addressed before it become a tradition," the minutes read.
Ward Seven councillor Shadreck Sibanda also raised concern over the proposed renaming.
He felt that renaming streets such as King George Avenue and Cecil Avenue was an act of erasing the city's rich history.
After heated deliberations, council then resolved to rename Hillside Road.
The councillors also recommended that Burnside Road from Cecil Avenue to Bulawayo Drive be renamed after former Rhodesian Prime Minister Sir Garfield Todd.
Source - NewZimbabwe
