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Melissa Makoto and Joyce Mukucha
HARARE residents need to have cordial relations with local authorities and support President Mugabe’s directive to restore order in the central business district (CBD), a local trust has said. In a statement yesterday, Robert Gabriel Mugabe (RGM) Empowerment Trust, a pressure group, said chaotic and unregulated vending practices have contributed the most to the current condition of the capital.

“The President made a wise decree; yes, there is a challenge of employment in the country, but we cannot sacrifice orderliness and hygiene because of the presumed narrative that ‘there are no jobs,” read part of the statement. RGM Trust mainly advocates for citizen participation in Government policies such as the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset).

“It is only but wise for us citizens of this country to join hands regardless of political affiliation and drive initiatives that are of national interest. We need to shun the miserable tendency of sabotaging good initiatives simply because they have been driven perceived political opponent,” it adds. The Trust intimated that most of the challenges that are being faced by City of Harare are man-made since they were created by derelict local Government officials.

“The council has designated areas where vendors can operate from, but there are people who come and discourage vendors from embracing order. These are the very people from politically-aided groups disguised as vendor organisations, They don’t want to see order, they want chaos and nothing else. This they do as part of their efforts to discredit Government and the ruling party. We urge all vendors and informal tenders to go and get registered and get allocation of a vending sites,” said the statement.

The organisation said it will not stand idly by while foreign-sponsored political entities disguised as vendor organisations abuse people. RGM Trust, which views itself as an organisation that is meant to complement Government efforts of empowering indigenous Zimbabweans, pledged to help the City of Harare achieve its vision by 2025.