Dzivarasekwa District Officers receive a taste of raw sewage

By Tererai Karimakwenda
06 September 2006

The campaign against poor service delivery, mismanagement and corruption by the Makwavarara commission running Harare has intensified as residents take to their local district offices to ensure that they are being heard. On Thursday angry but peaceful residents from the Dzivarasekwa suburb of Harare dumped buckets of raw sewage and refuse inside their local district offices to protest the sewage that flows from broken pipes in their community and the uncollected refuse piled up on their streets. Residents from Budiriro did the same thing at their district offices on Wednesday as part of a coordinated campaign that has been dubbed “Let the D.O Taste It”.

Organised with assistance from The Combined Harare residents Association (CHRA), these protests are aimed at giving local officials a taste of their own - sewage. But ultimately Harare residents want to remove the Commission appointed by local government minister Ignatius Chombo and force him to conduct elections for a new mayor and council. Chombo removed elected officials illegally and has avoided elections by extending the Commission’s term of office 4 times.

CHRA spokesperson Precious Shumba told us over 250 Dzivarasekwa residents dumped their buckets of sewage and refuse at the entrance to the district offices and left samples on the desks inside as well. Shumba said increasingly disgruntled residents are contacting CHRA to get information on how to protest peacefully. Many have joined the campaign to boycott paying rates to the Commission and entire communities are beginning to search for solutions to their own problems. Shumba said as long residents remain peaceful in their protests and realise there is strength in numbers, the authorities will have no choice but to honour their wishes.

A Dzivarssekwa resident who chose not to be identified told us that he participated in the protest on Thursday because the conditions in his area had forced him to do something. He described streets littered with uncollected garbage and flooded with raw sewage from un-repaired pipes. He said the roads themselves are riddled with potholes and there have been no repairs even though they are paying rates to the Commission. But above all he said he wants elections conducted to remove the people responsible for this.

These localised protests have been designed to lead to one final protest when residents from all over Harare will descend on City hall to demand the removal of Commission Head Sekesai Makwavarara and her entire team.