The Harare Residents’ Trust accused Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda and his councillors of ignoring calls by residents not hike rates and also said the council has disobeyed instruction by central government to comply with World Bank recommendations on budgeting. Trust spokesman Precious Shumba urged central government to intervene to defend the rights residents who he said could be forced to boycott paying rates to force council to listen to their demands for a review of finances at Town House.
Shumba said: “Residents have a legitimate right to withhold their rates and rentals to the City of Harare if it continues to focus on enriching its underperforming senior managers.” The government recently ordered local authorities to stick to the World Bank recommended ration to commit 70 percent or revenue to service delivery and 30 percent to salaries.
But Masunda insists the ratio is impractical in Harare where not all the money that is due to the city is in municipal coffers because residents including government departments regularly default on rate payments. Masunda said: We as a city are owed a total of US$132 million . how can we even begin to deliver when we are owed that kind of money? And of that amount, the government owes nearly US$13m.”
Post published in: News