HARARE Mayor Herbert Gomba on Monday distanced himself from water tender scandals, and has instead blamed government for its failure to construct new dams in order to ease water shortages in the capital and its environs.
In a communiqué issued to stakeholders, among them Members of Parliament and residents, Gomba said city only purchased chemicals from those who would have participated in the tender process.
“Harare residents must know that the city can only buy from those who participated in the tender process and won. In terms of the law, all procurements are approved by Central Government. Therefore, chemicals are supposed to be bought from companies given to the city by Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Praz).
Government released ZWL37 million to Harare City Council (HCC) as it has become increasingly difficult for most business entities, including the HCC to source forex from the open markets in order to buy chemicals for water purification.
HCC supplies water to Chitungwiza, Norton, Ruwa and Zvimba through Morton Jaffray, with most of the beneficiaries not paying for water supplied.
Gomba also urged MPs not to approve next year’s national budget if it does not embrace an allocation for the building of Kunzvi, Musami and Muda dams without which the city would run dry, at the same time encouraging Harare residents to pressure government to concede to the construction of the new dams.
“To our residents, please, participate in the water debate in order to put pressure on government to construct Kunzvi, Musami and Muda dams this coming year, failure of which Harare will run dry,” Gomba said.
In Zimbabwe, all tenders are processed at the Office of the President and Cabinet where the Procurement and Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Praz) is housed.