Harare mayor Bernard Manyenyeni has a lot on his plate.
As if the typhoid outbreak that has killed two people in the capital and left hundreds sick was not enough, Manyenyeni has spent the first weeks of 2017 parrying accusations from Transport minister Jorum Gumbo that his council is abusing the $1 million it receives from the Zimbabwe National Roads Authority (Zinara) for the maintenance of roads.
Everson Mushava
Our chief reporter Everson Mushava (EM) caught up with Manyenyeni (BGM) to discuss the issue of typhoid, roads and other issues affecting residents.
The mayor did not mince his words about what he believes are the reasons behind Harare’s dilapidated roads, saying Gumbo should be ignored because he does not know what he is talking about.
He also had no kind words for Zinara and Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere. Below are excerpts from the interview.
EM: Why does Harare suffer from recurrent typhoid outbreaks yet other towns and cities facing more severe water shortages don’t have similar challenges?
BGM: Typhoid is not in Harare only. We happen to be the well-populated capital city, hence attract the most attention. Countrywide, nine people have died so far with two being in Harare. These deaths will carry more negative sentiment than any other number of deaths. We do regret the losses and share the sad avoidable losses with the affected families.
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Our response and reaction was commendable. We also have a functional public health system which is ready for such a risk.
EM: There have been concerns over the condition of the Mbare flats that have remained a hotbed for water-borne diseases; do you have any plans to avert avoidable deaths?
BGM: We exist to provide services to the people of Harare. Previous attempts to attend to the situation at the Mbare flats have been met with hostile resistance by some political forces who fail to see beyond political survival.
We are always ready to work on the Mbare flats, but residents must not be used by politicians who live in mansions. The redevelopment of Mbare has always excited potential partners to the city.
EM: The inhabitants of the Mbare flats say they have not been receiving critical services such as water and refuse collection, what has been the problem?
BGM: Remember Mbare is on 24/7 supply, so if there are any pockets that are not getting water we need to address the problem. With regards to garbage, Mbare is the busiest centre in Harare because of the Mbare regional bus rank and Mbare Musika and Mupedzanhamo.
Generally, garbage generation in the area is higher. We are working on replenishing our refuse collection fleet which has been depleted for technical and other reasons.
EM: Most people diagnosed with typhoid are being treated at the Beatrice Infectious Disease Hospital but there are reports the nurses at the health institution are not being paid on time since last year. Some are now reportedly even staying at the hospital because they do not have bus fare. What has been the reason for not paying them on time and what guarantee is there that they will be committed to their duties to save the typhoid victims?
BGM: Nurses, like all our employees, have suffered salary delays which are caused by two major issues, low revenues coming into council and very worryingly, their salaries are too high. those are the reasons. We are also owed over $550 million by ratepayers.
At my last visit to Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital, I was confronted by our health workers over these salary delays.
I persuaded them to understand the relationship between the level of remuneration and the ability to pay on time. This has not always been understood.
The other grey area is the issue of what constitutes employment costs in the eyes of councillors and employees alike. I have been accused of preaching wrong figures by those who have used their basic salary figures or sometimes just the net salary to calculate the human resources costs.
We also need to deal with some embarrassing misallocation of the few dollars coming in.
Who can forgive us for pumping millions of dollars into a football team when we have no garbage trucks and we ground the fleet because we have no diesel money? EM: When should Harare residents expect to see an end to water cuts that have been attributed to on-going upgrading of the city’s water works? Some suburbs have gone for years without water.
BGM: Can we talk about the water supply situation in April when the refurbishment at Morton Jaffrey Water works is through. We are approaching the projected 600 mega litres per day with optimism and hope for a better water supply.
Many of your readers may not appreciate that the refurbishment project is giving a new lease of life to a 60-year-old project. That is the level of forward planning we, as council, should be busy with, not dealing with diesel shortage matters.
There has been a backlog of water and other infrastructure planning for over 25 years while the city population grew — there is a lot of catching up to do. I don’t see that happening under the current national political leadership. They should either lead us properly or allow us to lead at these little sub-stations we are mandated to serve at.
EM: On the issue of road maintenance, you have been unable to maintain roads and your reason was that Zinara is not giving you money from licence fees. You have been clamouring to be given the greenlight to collect the quarterly vehicle licence fees, what are the reasons?
BGM: Roads are used by vehicles whose owners pay licence fees towards road maintenance and they expect trafficable roads from their money, which is vanishing at Zinara. We want the funds for the maintenance of our road infrastructure.
We expect between $40 million and $70 million per year from Zinara, not just $1m. Where is our Harare money?
With Zinara playing casino games with vehicle licence funds, the only way our roads can be maintained is through direct government funding or to squeeze the suffering Zimbabweans of more money.
If these two don’t happen, you can brace yourselves for worse and worse.
EM: What has been your relationship with Zinara and why do you think the authority should not be mandated to collect licence fees?
BGM: The relationship is cordial but unproductive. We don’t fight but all our meetings yield little or nothing. Zinara has no answers to your road money questions.
EM: Last week, Transport minister Gumbo said Zinara gave you $1 million which your council has failed to account for, what is your response to that?
BGM: That amount is only enough to do one kilometre of tarred road yet we have over 6 000km of roads that need attention. Can we have an adult discussion please?
There are times when a man simply has nowhere to hide. We are dealing with a serious case of sustained national failure here —please ignore that guy!
EM: How much do you think is needed to rehabilitate the road network in Harare and how can the money can be raised?
BGM: We need $500 million for our roads but for now we are saying whatever comes.
EM: You have come out in support of urban tollgates but don’t you think that would overburden motorists when the money they are already paying is not being accounted for?
BGM: Their money is disappearing at Zinara faster than the roads. But motorists are still in need of good roads. At the moment, their maintenance costs are higher because of poor roads. An additional fee may be painful but if used correctly, will bring the desperately needed relief from the agony motorists are suffering.
EM: Other countries repair roads first and install tollgates to recover the money, but the proposed urban tollgates which you have supported are an opposite of that approach. What is the motivation?
BGM: We operate in different economic and funding environments. As a failed state, our options are very limited, so some of our recovery models are unique to this country.
EM: What do you think should be done to restore Harare’s sunshine status?
BGM: Full civic participation. Residents paying their bills, not littering, using water responsibly and the city doing its service delivery mandate and using the funds correctly — very little of that is happening currently.
One of the best ways forward is to look back and see what made this city what it was. A lot of the old ingredients are rotting from top to bottom.
We also have to look at those cities and countries which are flourishing to do our copy and paste. A lot of brain damage among our people will need heavy-duty dry cleaning.
EM: Do you think those that accuse your council of incompetence when they assess the state of the city’s roads, refuse collection and declining hygiene levels are justified? BGM: If we deal with the financial incompetence first, then we can deal with other accusations better.
EM: You are on record saying the calibre of some councillors leaves a lot to be desired. Do you think that contributes to the challenges you face when it comes to service delivery?
BGM: The job needs the best people for best results. If we had quality and performing management, the attention on the elected component at Town House would be less.
Right now we are under intense individual and collective scrutiny as councillors because the organisation is in the intensive care unit, which is why we are angry when our efforts to hire competent executives are frustrated.
EM: Do you think your sour relationship Kasukuwere contributes to poor service delivery?
BGM: The minister runs with the hares and chases with the hounds — a sincere ministerial approach would help. In a normal country I would be relying on the parent ministry for help but in our case, it’s that regalia mentality in my minister’s head.
How does one get to blame just the vendors who are selling CDs and scarfs near Harvest House for the whole typhoid outbreak in the country?
EM: Your council has been accused of corruption by Kasukuwere and some residents associations. What is your reaction to that?
BGM: While I have no evidence, I cannot deny the allegations, but I think they are overplayed. I will not condone any form of corruption but without evidence, I struggle to imagine that our councillors are accused daily of looting.
It may be an issue, but from the little [I know], I can suspect we don’t have the level of corruption that would feature so regularly in the public spaces. Certainly, none of my councillors have built any 50-bedroomed mansions.
EM: In your tenure as mayor, what are some of the things that you have come to appreciate about Harare and what changes would you want to see?
BGM: A functional city that is allowed to make decisions without interference . . . a rising city is still possible!
My insights point to a city which can be turned around in six months if the power at central government was matched by the willpower at the elected council. Because of the politicking, I think I will leave Town House next year with a sense of being robbed because even the low-hanging fruit is poisoned.
EM: Councils always mourn about lack of support from central government yet never proffer solutions of their own such as fundraising to address the current typhoid outbreak. What is your view on that?
BGM: We are raising funding and resources every day. Central government financial support is standard in many cities around the world. In our case, central government is the curse at council.
We can’t have a government which dreams of employing council managers who can give them space to dip in the council coffers.
