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Written by Stanley Chikomba
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Tuesday, 17 November 2009 15:51 |
 Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (pictured) on Monday summoned the Minister of Local Government Ignatius Chombo and Harare Mayor, Muchadeyi Masunda to his Munhumutapa offices to explain why the marauding municipal officers who killed a 25-year-old man last week are being deployed in the streets to harass innocent vendors.
The meeting was called following the death of two vendors over the past two months in skirmishes between vendors and municipal police officers. Several residents of Harare has condemned the crackdown on vendors. Others have even taken the law into their own hands to deal with the municipal police officers who are believed to have been drawn from the infamous national youth training service.
It is believed that they were secretly employed by the Harare City Council through the office of the Town Cleck Michael Mahachi, in a move aimed at tarnishing the image of the Harare mayor and the MDC run council. Masunda confirmed the meeting with the Prime Minister, saying "the meeting called by the Prime Minister was to address issues affecting the city of Harare and work towards depoliticising the council."
Masunda told The Zimbabwean newspaper that, the municipal police officers were employed by the council in a transparent manner but condemned their heavy handed tactics on vendors in the city. “They are part of the municipal workforce not a special force to do a Murambatsvina two on the people of Harare,” said Masunda.
“They were employed to enforce the by-laws, the indiscriminate vending because the council is losing revenue because of the chaos that is in the city but we don't condone any cats that does not respect the human rights of residents.”
Asked about the rational behind the blitz programme against the vendor, Masunda said the political leaders should deal with the unsustainably high rates of unemployment. Zimbabwe is sitting on an unemployment rate of about 98 percent according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) statistics. Tsvangirai’s meeting with Chombo comes, just days after the resumption of the council blitz on vendors in Harare despite a directive from the Harare mayor’s office to halt it.
Harare’s City councillors have meanwhile requested an investigation into the recruitment of municipal police officers. The councillors believe that there has been unsanctioned co-option of national youth service recruits into the force. The recent blitz by the municipal police officers comes on the heels of another battle between vendors and Harare Municipal Police at the fourth street bus terminus recently.
Early October, a 75-year-old Mupedzanhamo stallholder was killed after being hit by a missile during a demonstration against the proposed re-organisation of Mupedzanhamo Flea Market. Newly recruited municipal police clad in green and blue overalls have descended on vendors in Harare in the last two weeks. The newly recruited municipal police have been accused to be overzealous and going overboard to take decisions meant to be enforced by state police and have no right to beat residents for any reason.
In some instance they have also been accused of extorting members of the public who they mistake for vendors.
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