Harare Residents' Trust (HRT)

Harare Residents' Trust (HRT) The HRT is a movement of the residents, determined to take full control of their public affairs in a progressive, accountable and inclusive manner.

The HRT was established to build capacity for productive engagement among citizens, their elected representatives and service providers as means to improve living standards in Harare Metropolitan Province communities.

24/08/2026

The City of Harare should explain to the residents of Harare how they will compensate residents on Prepaid Water Meters and conventional water meters who receive hundreds of litres of dirty water after major maintenance works.

24/08/2026

City water in Old Highfield today.

24/08/2026

The City of Harare has introduced three levies to address service delivery challenges.

1. Public safety levy (covering street lights)
2. Emergency Services Levy- Covering the procurement of ambulances and fire engines.
3. Water Infrastructure Development Levy- The City of Harare is supposed to use this levy to repay a US$72 million Chinese Exim Bank loan, part of the US$144 million that was supposed to help upgrade the sewerage and water pumping capacity. The Chinese subsequently released only US$72 million, which largely went into the Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Works and luxury vehicles for top management. Little of this levy will go towards the maintenance, upgrade and expansion of the water infrastructure in the City of Harare. It will largely go to the Chinese as loan repayment.

Residents expect to see tower lights erected and maintained in residential areas to provide lighting at night. Street lights have to be sorted out in the central business district and all residential areas. They are using revenues contributed by ratepayers through the levy. More funds for street lighting should come from property tax, which covers most of the services not directly billed on residents' monthly bills.

City managers responsible for handling ratepayers' funds should be transparent and accountable.

24/08/2026

Power resides with the people. However, the people do not recognise that they have the power to hold public institutions to account for every decision, policy, message or action they undertake in the name of the people. The citizens only need to recognise their needs, their rights, their interests, and build trust and confidence in each other to collectively act in their best interests. The people do not need validation by the powerful in society. They only need to know that they have the power in them to change how public officials behave towards them. Think about the bully public officials at your local health facility, your district office, your local police station, your government offices, and everywhere else where ratepayers' and taxpayers' funds are used to provide public services. When you were not treated well, what did you do? Who did you tell? Let us build a culture of talking about our challenges as a people, sharing ideas and knowledge, and linking up to take collective actions.



17/08/2026

Residents urge President Emmerson Mnangagwa to Implement Justice Maphios Cheda Commission of Inquiry Report

The report of the Commission of Inquiry by Justice Maphios Cheda into the financial management in the City of Harare will settle a lot of issues afflicting the City of Harare today. It is an essential document that contains the evidence submitted before the Commission of Inquiry by various stakeholders, including the Town Clerk of the City of Harare, Engineer Hosiah Chisango, Executive Assistant Matthew Marara, then Acting Human Capital Director Bosman Matengarufu, among other senior council officials and councillors.

The Mayor was implicated in corruption involving the procurement of the enterprise resource planning system and the purchase of some residential stands. The rot went deep and high, and needs closure, with culprits held accountable.

The Harare Residents' Trust (HRT) urges the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe to implement the findings of the Commission of Inquiry led by Retired Judge of the High Court, Justice Maphios Cheda.

Whoever was implicated in the Commission of Inquiry should be thoroughly investigated, and if found guilty by a competent court, they should be jailed without hesitation. No official of the City of Harare should ever feel that they are above the law simply because they are friends with certain high-level officials in the government or the ruling party.

The Harare Residents' Trust has heard some of the officials boasting that nothing will be done to them because they have the backing of certain government officials. That should never happen, because letting that happen means that they are considering themselves above the President who appointed the Commission of Inquiry after seeing the need.




17/08/2026

Lawyers in the City of Harare are not above the law. When the time is right, individual lawyers whose land dealings are now known will be exposed, in the public interest. The Harare Residents' Trust (HRT) has it on good authority that one female lawyer, who claims to be well - connected, issued verbal instructions to the Municipal Police to demolish residents' houses on Phase 2 of St Martin's, while ignoring the legal position concerning the housing development project on St Martin's. She has allegedly promised, on the guidance of other policymakers and bureaucrats, to defend their right to acquire residential stands in the St Martin's Housing Development project, serviced by the victims whose houses have been demolished.

City of Harare senior managers allegedly stole the water and sewerage pipes contributed by the victims to use them elsewhere. Some of the victims suspect that their water and sewerage pipes were used on Phase One, where 90 council workers were allocated residential stands. The list of those council workers will be shared once it has been verified.



16/08/2026

Ingwe Farm under invasion from identified land barons. They are selling residential stands on council farm without council authority. Some of the identified land barons are claiming to be ruling party officials, with another being linked to an opposition Women's Quota Councillor in the Harare City Council.

15/08/2026

A thorough audit is urgently needed of the sewerage and water pipes bought with contributions from people allocated residential stands at the St Martin's housing developments. The beneficiaries initially paid money for the residential stands before being asked to make further contributions for servicing the land and the purchase of sewerage and water pipes. What happened to the purchased pipes, which were stored at the Remembrance Council's offices?

Let justice prevail for everyone allocated residential stands at St Martin's by the City of Harare.

15/08/2026

The St Martin's housing demolitions reveal the magnitude of land corruption and uncertainty in policy formulation and implementation in the City of Harare. Councillor Jacob Mafume, now mayor, and other current and former councillors sat in the meetings of the Education, Health, Housing and Community Services Committee when the St Martin's housing project was discussed.

Housing demolitions are a crude way of settling land allocation conflicts. A more humane approach is needed to handle illegally settled people. Destroying people's livelihoods in the name of asserting the council's or government's land rights is a lack of wisdom and foresight in dealing with sensitive issues.

There has to be a better solution than demolitions!

Unfortunately, someone sits daily in their high offices, deciding how to hurt the people.

This will definitely backfire.

The people shall govern with more dignity and respect for their fellow humans.



14/08/2026

There is speculation that some well-placed City of Harare officials, including councillors, are pushing to establish a car sales business at the intersection of ED Mnangagwa Way (Enterprise Road) and Gletwyn Road. Senior council officials have been observed visiting the place and telling residents about their plans, without disclosing much. Who is this businessman who wants to set up their business at this road intersection? The place is a high-accident zone, and the traffic lights at the intersection are solar- powered. During winter, by 4pm, the lights will be out. Vehicles entering the intersection from Gletwyn Road already experience an obscured view of the road from the left due to a huge brown container blocking that view of the road.


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