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Wallace Ruzvidzo Herald Reporter
Citizens Protection Council of Zimbabwe (CPCZ), an affiliate of the Zimbabwe Liberation and War Collaborators’ Association (ZILIWACO), has called on relevant authorities to ensure Harare’s Sunshine City status is restored by 2025.

Speaking in an interview with The Herald yesterday, CPCZ empowerment director Cde Rex Chikoti said the restoration of Harare’s Sunshine City status required the combined efforts of councillors, council staff and other stakeholders.

He said citizens’ rights should be protected, hence they were embarking on awareness campaigns to ensure people were aware of their rights.

“As we aim to have a Sunshine City by 2025 and an upper-middle income economy by 2030, council should seek to do its job effectively in line with the (two blueprints),” said Chikoti.

“We want our citizens to know their rights so that in turn they know who to vote for to get proper service delivery in both urban and rural settings.

“As citizens we should be protected by Government through local authorities, safeguarding citizens’ rights like the right to water, right to shelter and a safe and clean environment.”

Mr Chikoti urged Harare City Council to put in place effective transport management techniques to deal with unruly kombi operators and touts.

“Council should protect transport operators and there should be proper transport management because we have unruly touts that are making money at the expense of council.

“The HCC should protect people’s rights and say no to profiteering activities because we have unruly touts and those mushikashika operators carrying out illegal activities and this negatively affects council operations,” said Mr Chikoti.

He said dealing with illegal vendors disrupting the free flow of vehicular and human traffic was also a priority as they were not paying for the spaces they occupied.

“Right now we have so many places in Harare that are inhabitable, including the CBD. For example, Town House is now a very dirty area and the people operating around that area, like vendors (and Bindura-Mt Darwin kombis) are not paying for the services,” he said.