Yet eight
weeks after the March 29 election, they have still not been sworn-in. Now
Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo has reportedly appointed
commissions to run the country’s major cities and towns. The MDC immediately
blasted Chombo for sidelining their elected councillors.
The MDC won a majority of the seats on local councils in most urban as well
as rural districts, and they now dominate municipalities in cities including
Harare, Bulawayo, Chitungwiza, Mutare, Masvingo, Gweru, Kwekwe and Chinhoyi.
Mike Davies from the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) described
Chombo’s move as ‘an outrageous criminal act by a criminal regime’. He said
there is no government running the country and what we have is a criminal
regime that is functioning under a veil of secrecy to hide their criminal
acts.
The outspoken activist said Harare is being treated as one big money making
business, and that ZANU-PF is only interested in having ‘a good time at the
trough’ by looting the capital’s resources, giving huge contracts to their
cronies and hiring their family and friends. There are unconfirmed reports
currently circulating in Harare that there has been a massive employment
drive in government owned parastatals since the elections in March.
Davies said CHRA intends to file legal papers to try and force the regime to
install the legitimately elected councils. He explained that Chombo and
ZANU-PF will ignore the courts as they have done on numerous occasions in
the past, but CHRA is taking the legal route in order to create a record of
the abuses.
SWRadio Africa
Post published in: News