By Caroline Washaya-Moyo
HARARE — Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume has called on residents, vendors and other stakeholders to embrace efforts to restore order in the capital, saying the city’s status as Zimbabwe’s capital must be reflected in the way people conduct their activities.
Mayor Mafume said the Harare Municipal Police were ready to enforce city by-laws as authorities intensify efforts to restore the capital’s reputation as the Sunshine City.
Addressing stakeholders ahead of the intensified enforcement of municipal by-laws, he said the city leadership supported measures being implemented to restore order and improve the overall functioning of Harare.
“Our Municipal Police are ready to implement the City by-laws as we work towards restoring the Sunshine City status. As the councillors and the city fathers, we are here with you in solidarity with the directive you gave us to implement key development orders that will help us restore sanity within the capital city,” said Mayor Mafume.
He commended the Minister of Local Government and Public Works for taking steps to strengthen the enforcement capacity of local authorities, particularly through the granting of arresting powers to Municipal Police.
“For the first time in history, Honourable Minister, you are the first to submit a request to Cabinet to give arresting powers to Municipal Police. This exercise we are starting tomorrow is going to be used as a yardstick to show that we are capable in law enforcement,” he said.
Mayor Mafume stressed that the exercise was not intended to create confrontation between municipal authorities and vendors, but to ensure that people operating within the city comply with established regulations.
“We are not doing a cat-and-mouse chase. We are simply calling on our vendors to comply with order restoration so that we can start working in line with the National Development Strategy blueprint,” he said.
He said the responsibility of maintaining the character and image of Harare rested not only with authorities but also with residents and businesses operating in the city.
“We need to show the world that Harare is the capital city and the behaviour thereof by the citizenry must reflect,” Mayor Mafume said.
The Mayor also welcomed the willingness by vendor associations to engage with city authorities and support the restoration of order, describing their response as an important demonstration of cooperation in national development.
“As the Mayor of the City of Harare, I am pleased with the vendor association groups we met with. Their full support for this cause shows how mature our people are when it comes to nation building and development,” he said.
The renewed drive to restore order in Harare comes as Government and local authorities step up efforts to improve the capital’s cleanliness, functionality and appearance, in line with the broader national development agenda and the attainment of Vision 2030.
Mayor Mafume said the success of the initiative would require cooperation between Government, council, vendors, residents and other stakeholders.
“Together we can achieve more. Let us show the world that we are a people determined to transform our own destiny towards better livelihoods.”
As enforcement of municipal by-laws gets underway, the focus is now on ensuring that Harare develops into a clean, orderly and functional capital city that reflects the standards expected of a modern capital.
