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Innocent Ruwende Senior Reporter
Harare residents are boycotting the city’s 2018 pre-budget consultation meetings, with the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) attributing this to poor planning, the cholera scare and logistical problems. Most of the meetings were poorly attended, with attendees identifying provision of clean, adequate and potable water, upgrade of the water distribution network, trafficable roads and refuse collection as their main priorities.

The city’s corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme urged residents to take the meetings seriously.
“Budget consultations are meant to get the input of residents. Council has been open enough to allow for participatory budgeting. In the future, residents should take issues of participatory engagement seriously.”

CHRA said it was deeply concerned with the low attendance by residents during the just-ended council budget consultative meetings held last weekend.

“Residents lamented that the exercise was just a formality to comply with laws and merely cosmetic,” said the association.