Suburban
Peter Tanyanyiwa Suburban Reporter
THE Borrowdale Ratepayers and Residents Association (BRRA) says it is concerned with the rampant lawlessness across Harare caused by the lack of by-laws enforcement by the City of Harare (CoH).
The BRRA’s comments come in the wake of council admission that lack of by-laws enforcement was contributing to poor revenue levels in the municipality as people take advantage to use council facilities and open spaces without paying anything.
Presenting the 2023 budget last week, the chairperson of the Finance and Economic Development Committee Councillor Costa Mande cited lack of by-laws enforcement as one of the reasons for the poor revenue inflows.
The residents’ body said the lack of enforcement of by-laws was resulting in the city losing a lot of revenue.
In an interview, BRRA chairperson Mr Robert Mutyasira said they are deeply concerned by the fact that the city was not acting on the rampant lawlessness in Harare.
The BRRA leader said the streets of Harare’s suburbs are typical examples of the anarchical environment in which the local authority is losing a lot of revenue.
“All Harare suburbs despite their status are under siege. Poor enforcement of by-laws is cited as the anomaly. But the high levels of corruption among city law enforcers has been overlooked. Residents would want to see the city attempting to establish fool proof systems that will help in channelling incomes into city treasury instead of enriching corrupt workers.
“It is unfortunate that 50 percent of potential revenue is either uncollected or unaccounted for. Businesses without licences should not be operating but they are in the face of a compromised policing system. The by-laws gap repeatedly mentioned in the (budget) report as causative to poor revenue collection is a weak tree to lean on. The job of elected and non-elected officials is to identify such gaps and problems and formulate effective policies to run the city,” said Mr Mutyasira.
He said the city seems to have lost its teeth as far as by-laws enforcement is concerned as several space occupiers who are trading seem to be concentrating on making profit but neglecting to pay their bills resulting in the municipality losing revenue in the process.
“A commercial debt of 43.64 percent is unacceptable. The city has groomed rogue space occupiers who are amassing profits while abrogating their obligations to pay for the services they use. The city has lost its teeth and has created citizens who no longer care. The year 2023 should see city authorities implementing better systems of bringing to account all defaulters,” said Mr Mutyasira.
The BRRA chairperson said efforts made towards regularising refuse collection and waste management is commendable and 2023 should see the distribution of resources also directed to that area.
Councillor Mande said one of Harare’s challenges arose from the city’s under exploited revenue base.
“There is need to expedite crafting of by- laws in potential revenue generating areas. Furthermore, the review of outdated by- laws is very urgent. There is lethargy in the enforcement of laws governing operations of the city and this indiscipline has resulted in illegal settlements, buildings and increased revenue leakage. Efforts must be made to restore order through rigorous enforcement,” Cllr Mande said.
