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Municipal Reporter
DOUBLE standards of CCC councillors on the Pomona Waste Management Plant deal have been exposed amid indications that the opposition councillors Ian Makone, Elvis Ruzani, and Loice Gomba approved the national status project are now at the front pushing for its reversal.

Our publication has it on good record that Cllr Makone is a bona-fide CCC member who on February 16, 2022, as the party’s Secretary for Elections addressed the press on the preparedness of CCC on March by-elections.

In the same vein, Cllr Makone was the chairperson of the Environment Management Committee and approved the Pomona dumpsite deal, which he is now attempting to reverse. According to special council minutes on Pomona deal of June 29, 2021 CCC Cllrs including Makone, Ruzani and Gomba were part of the meeting that endorsed the Pomona deal unanimously.

“The chairperson, councillor Tichaona Mhetu reported on the decisions recorded in item 4 of the extract from the minutes of Joint Environmental Management,  Business and Finance and Development Committees dated June 29, 2021 regarding the status of Pomona Waste to Energy Project Proposal which involved recommendations to council and he moved the adoption of the recommendations. The recommendation in Item 4 referred to above were put and adopted unanimously,” reads the minutes.

An artist’s impression of the new Pomona Project

CCC Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume yesterday said the special committee set up is inclusive of all Cllrs.

“Our committee had to have to balance between those who were there and those who were not. If it would have been made up of new councillors the accusation would be that it was one sided.

“In addition, he (Cllr Makone) has not presented his report for us to know his position. As we know the contract came from somewhere not council,” he said.

Our publication recently exposed that CCC Cllrs are allegedly set to pocket US$12 000 each through a special committee it set up to milk funds in the pretext of investigating the Pomona waste management deal.

Further, there was a conflict of interest with one of the external lawyers allegedly being Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume’s lawyer.

CCC cllrs are opposing the deal despite it being legally entered between Harare City Council and Netherlands investor, Geogenix BV, to set up a massive waste-to-energy project at the Pomona dumpsite in Harare.

The special committee comprises of other CCC cllrs including Keith Charumbira, Kudzai Kadzombe, and Blessing Duma and two externals lawyer Mr Godfrey Mupanga and Engineer Stephen Musarurwa.