Opinion / Columnist
Residents must resist road levy
12 Apr 2021 at 02:18hrs | Views
THE Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) is calling all residents of greater Harare and motorists to resist the introduction of a roads levy by the City of Harare.
The move comes at a time when the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) has totally failed to use vehicle licence and tollgate fees to rehabilitate roads.
We assert that the introduction of road tax or levy in Harare is tantamount to double taxation and must be resisted by the residents and motorists.
The road levy is a ploy to cover up failure by Zinara to be accountable, rehabilitate and maintain roads when it is collecting vehicle licence and tollgate fees.
We are very clear that the current state of roads in Harare and Zimbabwe in general is a result of a centralised governance system that is not responsive to local needs since the Zinara takeover of vehicle licensing in 2008.
We reiterate our position that if the government intends to improve the state of roads, there should be political will on the part of Cabinet to reverse the Zinara takeover of vehicle licensing from local authorities.
Residents and motorists should not pay the price and bear the burden of failing institutions such as Zinara through the introduction of a roads levy via the backdoor.
This injustice in the making is not welcome in Harare where citizens are grappling with over-taxation.
We expect Harare City Council to make rational decisions and embark on broad consultations on this matter.
Furthermore, Zinara must publish the figures of vehicle licence fees that it collected in Harare for 2020 and the amounts it has disbursed to the local authority for the same period.
In line with devolution as enshrined in Chapter 14 of the Constitution, we call upon the government to devolve the function of vehicle licensing to local authorities.
The move comes at a time when the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) has totally failed to use vehicle licence and tollgate fees to rehabilitate roads.
We assert that the introduction of road tax or levy in Harare is tantamount to double taxation and must be resisted by the residents and motorists.
The road levy is a ploy to cover up failure by Zinara to be accountable, rehabilitate and maintain roads when it is collecting vehicle licence and tollgate fees.
We are very clear that the current state of roads in Harare and Zimbabwe in general is a result of a centralised governance system that is not responsive to local needs since the Zinara takeover of vehicle licensing in 2008.
We reiterate our position that if the government intends to improve the state of roads, there should be political will on the part of Cabinet to reverse the Zinara takeover of vehicle licensing from local authorities.
Residents and motorists should not pay the price and bear the burden of failing institutions such as Zinara through the introduction of a roads levy via the backdoor.
This injustice in the making is not welcome in Harare where citizens are grappling with over-taxation.
We expect Harare City Council to make rational decisions and embark on broad consultations on this matter.
Furthermore, Zinara must publish the figures of vehicle licence fees that it collected in Harare for 2020 and the amounts it has disbursed to the local authority for the same period.
In line with devolution as enshrined in Chapter 14 of the Constitution, we call upon the government to devolve the function of vehicle licensing to local authorities.
Source - newsday
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