Harare councillors held an emergency caucus meeting on 11 January 2011 at Harvest House following the slashing of maize in the city and came out with the following position;
Harare City councillors dissociate themselves and condemn the ongoing barbaric destruction of the staple maize crop in the high density areas of the city. Council has never made such a resolution. The MDC is a pro-poor political party and is fully behind all livelihood support programmes among them urban agriculture.
Harare councillors are currently on recess. The last council meeting was held on 16 December 2010 and they will resume work on 17 January 2011. The instruction to destroy maize is believed to have come from the Police in order to taint the image of MDC council. The instruction was given to a Mr. Mutisi who works in the Housing Department as a manager in the grass cutting section, Mutisi went on to implement the directive without any consultations.
It is frightening to contemplate how the Police would give directives straight to council employees. The MDC has always known that some council employees are partisan and are working in cahoots with Zanu PF’s Ignatius Chombo and other securocrats to ensure perpetual suffering of the Zimbabwean population.
In the meantime, council has recommended that action be taken on the implicated council employee. Council would like to warn the partisan Minister of Local Government never to protect employees with satanic tendencies as he has done in other local authorities.
Harare Councillors caucus
MDC Information & Publicity Department
Harvest House, Harare
