Suburban
RESIDENTS of Ward 9 have expressed concern over the duplication efforts on issues affecting that community by the Greendale Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRA) and community leader, Mr Brian Shenje saying this creates confusion, chaos and disables the residents’ association.
Diana Nherera Suburban Reporter
Speaking at a GRRA residents’ meeting held on Saturday last week at Abbey’s Preparatory School in Greendale, a resident of the ward said the GRRA should be at the forefront of service delivery issues and community affairs and not an individual.
“I think we need to be informed on the relationship between Brian Shenje and GRRA.
“You see what’s happening in the group, yesterday people were asking.
“Now there is a duplication, all your objectives, Brian is doing the same thing,” said the Greendale resident.
He said GRRA was not visible and is found wanting where communicating with residents is concerned.
“Whereas Brian is visible everywhere, 24 hours, he’s communicating and putting reports on all the chats.
“This is where the problem is,” said the Greendale resident.
The resident also questioned whether Mr Shenje was harbouring any political ambitions. Council and parliamentary elections are due in July/August this year.
Other residents said roles should be clearly defined so that they know who is doing what.
“I think there’s need for role clarity as to who is doing what at what point otherwise you are being disabled as the chairman and that is offline. I think going forward, for the credibility of GRRA, you need to resolve those things. He (Shenje) has got the vison, the dynamism but it must be harnessed through the correct channels,” said another resident. However, a Mandara resident commended Mr Shenje’s efforts on service delivery and community issues.
She urged the GRRA and Mr Shenje to meet, communicate and decide who posts information on social media platforms.
“In our area, (Mandara) the communication has been splendid and things have been on the roll.
“I don’t know if there are personal or political issues. What I want is a clean suburb and communication,” said the Mandara resident.
In response, GRRA chairperson Mr Charles Chirikure said the residents’ body had been dormant for some time until he and others deiced to revive it.
“There was no activity by GRRA for quite some time and a group of individuals, I think me included decided that as a community we just need to meet, try to do whatever we can to have the association going on. Then when GRRA was constituted. Unfortunately, we have to be frank, Greendale has a lot of apathy, people are not interested in… Like one of the meetings that was called, all the people that were at that meeting were then co-opted into the development committee. We eventually went to the AGM and most people were not interested,” said Mr Chirikure.
He said at the start there were few individuals keen on the GRRA.
“When we started, it was just a few individuals and we had to acknowledge all the effort put in by any individuals trying to make a difference in the community and were noticeable at that moment. We tried to incorporate them into the residents’ association and work with them which is what we did with Mr Brian Shenje because we noticed that he is an enthusiastic member of the community and that we can actually work together and try to make a difference. Unfortunately, he was saying GRRA was stopping him from moving faster than he wanted and he resigned on his own. We didn’t ask him to resign. We didn’t want to discourage him because there was nothing going on but as we go on, as more and more people want to participate, we have to start regulating.”
Mr Chirikure said as elections draw close there will be a lot of activities.
“And we are also getting towards elections, there will be more activity. And probably after elections things will be a bit more normal but right now as GRRA, we didn’t feel we had to stop anyone trying to pursue something because nothing was happening before. Anything that was happening that is for the good of the community, we want to encourage it. But as we go on, we don’t want to rely on individuals. As we go on, our wish is we must be able to have committees whether it’s waste, water, everything else. We would wish that as we go on, we have a group of people, someone’s presence or absence should not stop anything from going on. Like at this particular meeting, our wish was to get more volunteers to get into various committees so that whatever difference we are making is sustainable and doesn’t depend on any individuals. Unfortunately, we cannot 100 percent stop individuals from doing whatever,” he said.
