PDP hails High Court ruling on demolitions

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) applauds the High Court ruling on the illegal demolitions of residential houses by the government and local councils.

The ruling passed by Justice Priscilla Chigumba on Monday declared that "under no circumstances are the Government departments at liberty to demolish any structures in the absence of a court order authorizing them to do so, whether the structures are illegal or an eyesore.

This comes as a relief to desperate home seekers who lost their entire life's savings and properties following the demolitions of their properties without the necessary court orders as enshrined in the Constitution.

Thousands of families have been rendered destitute because of the callous demolitions, which in the first place an infringement of their fundamental right. As the PDP, we are concerned that some of the local authorities involved in the demolitions are run by opposition parties that claim to be social democrats but choose to cooperate with the heartless Zanu PF government in making unconstitutional decisions.

This is a clear negation of duty on the part of this opposition grouping and we hope that the ruling will give them time to introspect.

We totally support the advice of Justice Chigumbura to people whose homes were destroyed that they use court processes and sue the government and the Harare City Council over the unlawful demolitions. Lawlessness and anarchy must never be tolerated especially if it is coming from those who must abide by the law because they are knowledgeable and understand its requirements.

It is also unfortunate to note that in the same local councils, service delivery is almost none existent while revenue collected from ratepayers is used to pay for luxury vehicles and holidays for the senior executives with ordinary workers going for months without receiving their salaries.

In Harare, at least 15 cases of typhoid have been confirmed while and another 125 are being investigated.  It is unheard of that a city like Harare should in this day record cases of curable Stone Age diseases such as typhoid or cholera.

To worsen the situation, the Harare City Council has informed its residents to brace for more lengthy water cuts until July. While it is important that water infrastructure must be serviced, this must be done alongside necessary remedies such as providing water bourses to suburbs in low income areas so that people's fundamental right to access clean and potable water is not infringed as a result of administrative conduct.

This sad state of affairs being witnessed in the capital is the same in most urban councils, such as Mutare, Gweru and Masvingo with the residents unfortunately bearing the brunt of the government and the local authorities' insensitivities. Residents are being forced to fetch water from unprotected sources as the local councils fail to provide clean and safe to ratepayers.

Roads and other social infrastructure remain in a deplorable state while informal traders who are trying to make a decent living in such a difficult economic situation are being chased away and their goods are confiscated without compensation by the criminal cabals that have become of council police.

As PDP, we restate our call for Harare Mayor, Ben Manyenyeni to resign and let other competent people run the affairs of the Harare City Council.  By continuing as mayor, he is putting the lives of millions of residents at a risk at a time when the city should be striving hard to attain its much hyped status as a world class city by 2025.