By Agencies
HARARE City Council (HCC) mayor Adv Jacob Mafume has gone all the way to town praising President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s advice on the Geo-Pomona Waste management deal.
The waste recycling firm was awarded a US$9 million worth tender last week which will see it taking over waste management collection in the capital city commencing January 2025.
Over the years, Harare has failed to resolve waste management crisis prompting many to embrace the new player in the game.
Speaking during the Zimbabwe Local Government Association Annual Indaba held in Harare last week, Mafume said he was misdirected by rejecting the controversial Geo Pomona waste management project as it was now benefiting the city.
Over 2 000 councillors from across the country attended the event.
“We must all be thankful for the guidance that we have received from the President,” Mafume said. “When the call to action was issued, some people thought it was a means to punish us. But we must all agree that it has been a means to help us do our jobs. So let’s thank His Excellency for that. Harare needs to be more thankful to His Excellency.”
Mafume defended public criticism that the city fathers had failed to honour the commitment to make Harare a world-class city by 2025 saying Mnangagwa had done a lot to fulfil the commitment.
“So I was saying to them [the critics], if someone woke up in 2024 if they had died, they would be surprised that there was a world-class airport in Harare,” Mafume said. ‘They would also be surprised that there is a world-class Parliament [Building] in Mt Hampden. They would also be surprised that there is a world-class road on the western side of Harare.
“They would be surprised that there is a world-class junction at Mbudzi where the road starts. They would also be surprised that there is Joina City in the middle of the city. So Vision 2025 was built in 2022.
“And I want to say that government is assisting Harare in achieving that vision. What is needed is for us as councils to complement that vision by providing the software. That is the service delivery issues around waste collection and waste management.”
Mafume was elected mayor under protest from CCC bigwigs for the second term after the recall of former mayor Ian Makone by self-imposed interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu
