We are not elected to oppose the government, says Mafume
CCC politician says 'sewage smells as bad' to both Zanu PF and opposition
By Caleb Chikwawawa
Harare mayor and opposition CCC councillor Jacob Mafume says city fathers were not elected to oppose central government but to work together to achieve good service delivery for rate payers.
Mafume made the remarks in Harare on Monday at a formal handover ceremony for the first batch of Helcraw water project vehicles.
The Harare City Council and Helcraw has a US$138 million contract under which the council received 20 vehicles for the rollout of smart water metres and supporting leak repairs and meter installations.
In his remarks, Mafume said council will not apologise for working with the Zanu PF led authority.
“Today, we are not doing a lot as I indicated earlier that this project is bigger,” he said.
“This is only one-fifth of the vehicles that are going to be brought.”
The bulk of the vehicles are set be handed over to the City of Harare by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on a date to be announced.
Added Mafume, “We will not announce the date here for obvious reasons, but we will be told of the date by the relevant offices and the rest of the vehicles will be handed over to the city.
“We enter into a new era where as the city of Harare, we are working hand in glove with central government; we are working in tandem with central government and again, we make no apology for working with central government.
“When the electorate elected us, it was well aware that a result might come where the city will be held by another party and central government will be held by another party and we were not elected to simply oppose the government for the sake of it.
“We were elected to work together with the government to deliver to the people.
“They understand that as we campaigned as separate parties, we all promised that we will represent the people of Zimbabwe. That is what we are doing.
“We are in agreement that sewage smells as bad to a Zanu PF person as to the opposition person.
“Water tastes as good to a Zanu PF person as to a non-Zanu PF person.
“A road does not ask for your party card before it damages your car. So, you must be clear that we have a basic fundamental desire in our different capacities to give service delivery to the people.
“A service delivery that is seamless, that is standard and that is to the best international practice,” said Mafume.
