The Harare Residents Trust (HRT) has accused the ruling ZANU PF party of sabotaging urban local authorities as part of a choreographed plan turn the electorate against opposition political parties ahead of the 2023 general elections.
This comes after President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday accused the MDC Alliance-led urban councils of failure to provide services, saying it was high time voters reject the party.
Harare Residents Trust director Precious Shumba claimed that for a long time, ZANU PF had an agenda to undermine local authorities run by the opposition and Mnangagwa has just confirmed it. Said Shumba:
It’s all about electioneering. As residents, we have observed with increasing alarm that the central government is suffocating local authorities in Zimbabwe, especially urban local authorities under the control of opposition councillors.
The President is confirming a long-held agenda of ZANU PF to undermine local authorities run by the opposition in order to make the ratepayers reject the opposition.
The idea, in our view, is that when opposition-led councils fail to deliver, ratepayers will eventually discard them in preference of ruling party candidates.
Shumba called upon the central government to address the issue of devolution and stop interfering with the running of councils.
He also said the government still retain executive authority over the approval of budgets, recruitments and dismissal of senior council officials, hence the buck stops with the central government.