Harare residents under the flagship of the Harare Metropolitan Residents Forum (HAMREF) have blasted Local Government Minister July Moyo for sleeping on duty while chaos was ensue in Harare due to the vehicle parking impasse.
Recently, the City of Harare gave City Parking marshals authority to clamp and fine traffic offenders as a way to decongest the Central Business District (CBD), this led to Minister Moyo setting up an investigating committee into City Park shareholding.
Speaking to journalists in Harare, HAMREF chairperson Marvelous Khumalo expressed concern over the Minister’s action given the time City Park has been in operation.
“We take aware that a fortnight ago the Minister of Local Government intervened by setting an investigation Committee to establish the shareholding structure between the City of Harare and City Parking. This is worrying and clearly indicates that the Minister has been sleeping on duty considering that City Parking was established more than eight years ago and also considering that he is a recipient of minutes of full Council resolutions in terms of the Urban Councils Act.
“It is, in our view that the interventions of the Ministry of Local Government will be guided by the laws and the Constitution of Zimbabwe to avoid illegalities as he exerts accountability on the local authority. We take note of the interventions of the city’s traffic enforcement, which seeks to create order, easy access to the CBD and the free passage of traffic to and from the city Centre.
“If Zimbabwe intends to be open for business, the capital city Harare, should be the beacon of this open for business mantra. We have noted some opening up of the traffic spaces and reduction of the time of doing business in Harare through making the roads navigable. We condemn lawlessness in Harare’s CBD,” said Khumalo
Meanwhile, in light of the tensions that had arisen between motorists and City Park marshals, HAMREF among other issues called for the removal of clamping and towing fees in order to allow citizen participation and consultation in setting the fines and penalties.
The residents also implored the Government to urgently re-gazette Bills that seek to alien local government laws with the Constitution.
