A HARARE councillor has alleged that the city’s waste management department is sabotaging refuse collection efforts which has seen the metropolis accumulate mounds of uncollected garbage.
Councillor Denford Ngadziore, the representative for ward 16 and chairperson of the sub-committee responsible for refuse collection, told NewsDay that the systemic dysfunction has left Harare’s refuse collection efforts in shambles.
He accused officials within council of deliberately undermining operations aimed at improving waste management.
“We are struggling to collect refuse and clean up Harare City. There are key council resolutions which were deliberately not implemented, motions relating to service delivery. There are people who deliberately sabotage this council. They have shielded incompetent officials, blocked funding for necessary tenders and refused to procure essential materials and equipment to repair over 30 grounded compactors,” he said.
Ngadziore said the city required US$50 000 weekly for waste management operations.
However, he alleged that the head of the Amenities Department, Keith Mapunzamoyo, failed to submit requisitions for the approved amounts, leaving operations severely underfunded.
“Failure to raise the required US$50 000 requisition has been proved that the finance director has been releasing funds to the amenities department amounting to US$15 000, US$25 000, US$33 000 and US$40 000+ every week (sic),” he said.
“This has happened for a period of about two months but again the refuse compactor fleet increased by one truck. We queried this again with no clear explanation from the Waste Management Division head Keith Mapunzamoyo.”
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He said the move prompted a unanimous resolution to remove Mapunzamoyo from his position. However, mayor Jacob Mafume is said to have refused to sign the minutes thus blocking the decision.
“This comes as a resolved matter because the minutes were supposed to be tabled before the HR meeting the following day because anything which has to do with HR issues needs agreement of the HR committee,” Ngadziore said.
“As law states, the resolution of the minutes was signed by the deputy chairperson of the committee councillor Prince Mutebuka and was supposed to be signed by the mayor before being presented to the HR committee. The mayor refused to sign the minutes, he did not bother to call the committee to state his reasons for refusal nor did he do so in writing,” he said.
Mafume dismissed the allegations saying there are protocols in making such decisions.
“We do not remove workers through resolutions. We have processes governed by the Labour Act and HR committee. That is why we need education among councillors,” he said.
Mafume said any employment action, including layoffs or dismissals, was subject to a thorough review process involving the human resources committee, which evaluates each case in line with the legal framework established by the Labour Act.
