It was not long ago when the President of Zimbabwe appointed a special commission of enquiry to probe Harare City Council chaired by respected former deputy chief justice, Maphios Cheda.
Many complaints have been raised by residents of Harare concerning poor service delivery, corruption at town house, discourteous treatment by municipal police, indelicate treatment by parking agents among other issues.
The grievances have landed on deaf ears as responsible authorities become impervious to the issues with thick-skinned faces.
The once sunshine and thriving city has become a pale shadow of itself where order is now a taboo.
To begin with, service delivery has collapsed totally with heaps of garbage sprawled all over the city.
The rubbish is a natural habitat for rodents with water bodies being breeding places for mosquitos making it a disaster for disease outbreaks like cholera, typhoid, dysentery, malaria and even bilharzia.
Water and sanitation are now rare commodities and the problems are now perennial with no solution in site despite the changes in leadership.
We have witnessed many mayors, town clerks, directors who enjoy huge perks at the helm of the council but with nothing to offer.
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Some of them have been implicated in corruption, abuse of office, maladministration but they remain in offices, aggravating the already miserable situation.
Until when are we going to witness our city sink at supersonic speed while we continue standing akimbo?
Laying the blame on government alone is mere tomfoolery as councillors and mayors are willy-nilly making shocking management decisions including even parcelling out uninhabitable land to prospective home-seekers.
The director of health at city of Harare has made life miserable for medical practitioners through issuing unwanted and illegal restrictions to private practitioners.
He unsuccessfully sought to monopolise the issue of Food Handlers' Certification to City Council practitioners only yet the certificates can be signed by any registered medical practitioner as long as basic investigations to rule out infectious diseases are undertaken.
The bully nature of the city fathers should be investigated and the Commission of Enquiry should look into such issues of blatant violations of fair medical practice.
For long, medical practitioners have been swindled of their hard-earned money by being forced to pay for what is called "Health Certificate" yearly, a practice which is not supported by any laws or statutory Instruments of our country.
Doctors have been silently persecuted for a long time by city authorities who have used non-existent laws for self-aggrandisement.
A city cannot run smoothly when the authorities are always at loggerheads with important stakeholders.
We need better service delivery at town house. Is a Commission to run the affairs of Harare a better option?
The ill-treatment of vendors touched my heart one day when many of them, mostly women, were shoved into a huge lorry with their wares being randomly thrown into the back of the trucks.
The inconsiderate and iniquitous behaviour by council security officers is unpardonable. Vendors are trying to earn a living by selling their commodities.
We understand they may sell at undesignated places but confiscating and destroying their goods is highly unethical. It is common knowledge that some council security officers embezzle the wares for their families to use.
Why does the country allow such barbarous acts to prevail on the suffering citizens? It is time the local government ministry intervenes without any further delay! City Parking, Eese Park have been ruthless by wantomly clamping and towing vehicles, inconveniencing many motorists, some of whom are unknowingly caught in the melee.
The reprehensible behaviour by council officials should be investigated without fear or favour.
It is undeniable that our esteemed city has been run down by uncaring leaders who do not deserve any further time in office.
A commission may be better placed to deal with the contemporary issues bediviling City Council.
This is the time for action!
