It's Time To Bring Harare Municipality Under Direct State Administration - Presidential Spokesperson

Presidential spokesperson George Charamba has suggested that the Local Government Minister proposed using presidential powers to bring the Harare Municipality under direct state administration. Charamba believes this is necessary to address crises such as cholera and water shortages in the capital.

Charamba argues that the infighting within the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party which runs the City of Harare, coupled with the ongoing cholera pandemic, calls for a direct state administration. He believes that the state is already doing much of the work in addressing these issues, so it makes sense to take full control. He even suggests reappointing Harare Mayor, Jacob Mafume to lead the new rescue initiative created under presidential powers. He said:

WITH THE PARALYSIS WHICH TRIPLE C INFIGHTING HAS WROUGHT ON CITY OF HARARE, AND GIVEN THE RAGING CHOLERA PANDEMIC, IT IS ABOUT TIME LOCAL GOVERNMENT MINISTER APPROACHED HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT WITH THE PROPOSAL TO USE PRESIDENTIAL POWERS TO BRING HARARE MUNICIPALITY UNDER DIRECT STATE ADMINISTRATION. THERE IS A GOOD CASE NOW USING PUBLIC HEALTH ARGUMENT. THE STATE IS DOING MUCH OF THE WORK ANYWAY!!!!!

EVEN BETTER POLITICS WOULD BE TO REAPPOINT DOINK – MAFUME – TO LEAD THE NEW RESCUE CREATURE CREATED UNDER PRESIDENTIAL POWERS.

However, some commentators have pushed back against this proposal. They point out that even in areas where local authorities are already under state administration, there has been no tangible development or even worse conditions than in Harare. They question the effectiveness of presidential powers in bringing about real change and argue that those powers could be better utilised to address other pressing issues, such as the country’s economic collapse, abolishing the Zimbabwe dollar, increasing civil servants’ salaries, and combating corruption.

Critics also argue that the state of Harare is a reflection of the country’s overall economic situation. They emphasise that managing a city with a large informal trading sector is challenging. They place responsibility for the current problems in Harare and other cities on the government, particularly the ruling party, ZANU PF, attributing the issues to their governance and economic policies.

Since the early 2000s, the opposition has been in charge of managing major cities in Zimbabwe. However, these cities have struggled to provide essential public goods and services like clean water, sewage systems, garbage collection, road maintenance, and street lighting. The opposition blames this failure on insufficient funds and interference from the central government. They argue that the central government does not allocate the necessary resources to local authorities as required by the constitution. They also believe that the central government, through the local government ministry, intentionally undermines development efforts by local authorities to weaken the opposition’s hold on power.

On the other hand, the central government denies these allegations. They claim that they have a responsibility to oversee the operations of local governments. When local authorities are unable to fulfil their obligations, the central government argues that it must intervene to protect the interests of the general public. They deny purposely sabotaging development to influence electoral outcomes.

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