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Mnangagwa to show off Pomona Waste Project to SADC leaders

Zimbabwe leader set to drag 15 regional colleagues to snatched dumpsite after summit

By Staff Reporter

President Emmerson Mnangagwa will drag 15 of his SADC colleagues next month to the Geo Pomona Waste Management to show off a project recently established after the Zanu PF-led central government snatched and commercialised the City of Harare’s main dumpsite.

The project, established in 2022, was dubbed as a monumental fraud by the opposition.

Zimbabwe hosts the SADC summit on 17 August with Mnangagwa set to take over the rotational SADC chairmanship from Angolan leader João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço.

According to a SADC itinerary just shared on the 16-member regional bloc’s website, SADC leaders will end their tour of the country with a visit to Geo Pomona Waste Management and Museum of African Liberation on 18 August.

Geo Pomona Waste Management Private Limited is under Geogenix BV, an international firm involved in dealing with garbage.

The company was imposed on the city without any consultation with residents.

The Zimbabwe project is spearheaded by Dilesh Nguwaya, a wily businessman believed to be a front for shady but big money deals involving the ruling elite.

The project was imposed on Harare by Local Government Minister July Moyo after cutting deals with the Harare City Council, then controlled by a faction that was being led by opposition MDC leader Douglas Mwonzora.

The project was received with strong resentment by councillors who were loyal to Nelson Chamisa, who had been deposed as MDC Alliance leader through the courts.

Residents’ groups also felt central government was interfering with the running of the local authority while burdening rate payers and posterity with a financial burden they will shoulder for long.

Critics felt the deal was meant to enrich the contractor with claims government officials who facilitated the tender also ripped big in terms of kickbacks.

Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume previously said the deal “stinks to high heavens”, adding: “It’s plain thievery.”

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