Prepared on 15 March 2012
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) believes that the team appointed by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development to investigate the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is inherently prejudiced and therefore incapable of coming up with an objective judgment. BPRA fears that the investigation may be a farce that is aimed at gaining political mileage as has been witnessed in the past where the Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development, Dr Ignatius Chombo, has used the excessive powers conferred upon him by the Urban Council’s Act to dissolve opposition run local authorities that were elected by the public and replace them with his cronies. BPRA thus does not welcome the probing of the BCC by a team appointed by the ministry of local governance on grounds of impartiality.
While BPRA believes in transparency and accountability in the operations of local authorities, the association sees it as prudent for impartial and objective investigation teams to be appointed to carry out investigations where local authorities are accused of graft. BPRA proposes that the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Governance should be given the authority to appoint teams to probe the operations of local authorities. The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Governance is therefore in a better position to come up with a more objective team as it is composed of all the three major political parties in parliament.
Furthermore, BPRA sees any investigation instituted by the Ministry of Local Governance, Rural and Urban Development as the practice of double standards following the refusal by Minister Chombo to be investigated following revelations that he owns vast properties across the country in November 2010. Until Minister Chombo is investigated to ascertain how he acquired his vast wealth, BPRA believes that he does not have the moral standing to investigate local authorities or any other entities.
Signed
Mr Rodrick Fayayo
Coordinator
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)
No comments:
Post a Comment