The opposition, which has been at the helm of the City of Harare and run down the once Sunshine City into a dirt-hole over the past 24 years, is now up in arms against the Government’s efforts to beautify Harare through road rehabilitation, sprucing up buildings, and improving thoroughfares as part of its Urban Renewal Programme (URP). Observing the city’s continued decline under opposition control, the Government has embarked on a Harare Beautification Programme (HBP) ahead of the SADC Summit. This effort will persist as the Government has invoked Chapter 2 of the Model Building By-Laws of 1977, compelling homeowners to maintain high standards of cleanliness and order in their environs.
Government must be commended for stepping in and taking over Harare ahead of the SADC Summit, launching the HBP, which has seen roads being rehabilitated at an expedited pace, thoroughfares beautified with exotic trees, and buildings spruced up. The opposition-run City of Harare has neglected its duty to residents, choosing incompetence and mismanagement over competence, corruption and looting over service delivery, and politicking over public service. To date, it has thoroughly failed to invoke Chapter 2 of the Model Building By-Laws of 1977, resulting in dilapidated buildings, illegal structures, uncollected refuse, poor water reticulation, and other eyesores that now define the once Sunshine City.
Aware of this deteriorating situation under opposition watch, the New Dispensation stepped in through its URP by introducing the Emergency Road Rehabilitation (ERRP), the Presidential Borehole Scheme (PBS), the Residential Regularisation Programme (RRP) by issuing title deeds, and now the Harare Beautification Programme. Furthermore, the Government appointed a Commission of Inquiry that is actively probing the City Fathers’ mismanagement and corrupt activities, aiming to restore sanity in Harare.
