HARARE-(MaraviPost)-Zimbabwe’s Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume has sparked outrage after suggesting that residents who cannot afford the high cost of living in the capital should leave.
In an interview on Star FM Zimbabwe, Mafume said Harare is not meant to be a refuge for the struggling, but a commercial centre.
“The capital city is not a refugee camp. It’s a place of business,” he said. “This country is big.
“For those who are unable to live in Harare because it is expensive, we have towns created by the government, growth points, small towns, and farms.”
Mafume argued that people whose finances are stretched should relocate to cheaper parts of the country, leaving the city for business and for those who can afford urban life.
To defend his position, he pointed to other African capitals, claiming Addis Ababa in Ethiopia had moved to decongest its centre a decade ago, and referenced sanitation problems in informal settlements in Kenya.
The mayor also said the city council plans to work with central government to clear streets of vulnerable groups and stop public begging.
“We are going to make sure that street kids are removed, and begging [is addressed],” he said, adding that the municipality would engage the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to place them in care and rehabilitation facilities.
The remarks have triggered criticism, with many accusing the city of targeting the poor rather than addressing the rising cost of living, housing shortages and unemployment driving people into the capital.
Meanwhile, Alice Nyamande Action Democratic Movement leader has the following to say:
OPEN LETTER TO THE MAYOR OF HARARE, COUNCILLOR JACOB MAFUME…
HARARE BELONGS TO ZIMBABWEANS — AND NO POOR ZIMBABWEAN IS A REFUGEE IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY
Dear Mayor Mafume,
We write to you not merely as politicians, but as Zimbabweans speaking on behalf of Zimbabweans who are struggling every day to survive in the country of their birth.
We have seen the reports and the widely circulated message attributed to you: “Can’t afford Harare? Go kumusha.”
Whether those were your exact words or not, Mayor, the attitude reflected in that message deserves to be confronted.
A public office exists to serve people—not to humiliate them.
You occupy the mayoral chain of office because citizens entrusted you with responsibility. That chain does not make you superior to the people of Harare. It does not make you superior to the unemployed mother trying to sell tomatoes. It does not make you superior to the young man pushing a wheelbarrow to earn a living. It does not make you superior to the domestic worker, gardener, security guard, vendor, commuter or pensioner struggling to survive.
You are a servant of the people.
And the people deserve to be spoken to with dignity.
HARARE IS NOT A PRIVATE CLUB FOR THE WEALTHY
Mayor Mafume, let us be very clear:
Zimbabwe belongs to Zimbabweans.
Harare belongs to Zimbabweans.
A Zimbabwean does not become a refugee because he or she is poor.
A Zimbabwean from Murehwa does not need permission to seek an opportunity in Harare.
A Zimbabwean from Binga does not lose citizenship when they cross into the capital.
A Zimbabwean from Chiredzi, Mutare, Bulawayo, Gokwe, Hwange or any other part of our country has the same right to pursue a better life as anyone else.
People did not come to Harare because they hate the rural areas.
They came because economic opportunity was concentrated here.
People follow jobs.
People follow hospitals.
People follow schools.
People follow markets.
People follow opportunity.
If successive governments and institutions have failed to create meaningful economic opportunities throughout Zimbabwe, do not punish citizens for moving towards the opportunities that remain.
DO NOT CONFUSE POVERTY WITH WORTHLESSNESS
The poverty facing Zimbabweans today is not evidence that Zimbabweans are lazy, dirty or incapable.
Our people are working.
They are vending.
They are farming.
They are driving kombis.
They are building houses.
They are washing clothes.
They are selling vegetables.
They are running tuckshops.
They are doing piece jobs.
They are sending children to school against extraordinary odds.
They are surviving.
And much of the poverty confronting our people is the product of decades of policy failures, corruption, economic mismanagement, unemployment, poor governance and the destruction of productive opportunities.
It is man-made poverty.
Therefore, when a citizen arrives in Harare with nothing but determination, the answer of leadership should not be:
“Go kumusha.”
The answer should be:
“How can we help you build a dignified life?”
YOU CANNOT DESTROY LIVELIHOODS AND THEN BLAME THE POOR
There is a profound contradiction in the way our cities are being managed.
People are told to pay rates.
They are told to pay for water.
They are told to comply with regulations.
They are told to keep the city clean.
But when those same citizens create informal businesses because there are no jobs, their workplaces are demolished or they are chased away.
You cannot destroy someone’s livelihood in the morning and demand that they pay your bills in the afternoon.
If informal trading is a problem, formalise it.
If markets are overcrowded, build proper markets.
If vendors need permits, create an affordable and transparent licensing system.
If streets need to be cleared, provide alternatives before removing livelihoods.
Leadership is about solving problems—not simply moving poor people out of sight.
MAYOR, LOOK INTO THE EYES OF THE PEOPLE
Before telling struggling Zimbabweans to return to the rural areas, ask yourself:
What are they returning to?
Are there sufficient jobs?
Are there functioning clinics?
Are there adequate schools?
Are there reliable roads?
Is there water?
Is there electricity?
Is there agricultural support?
Are there markets for their produce?
If the answer to these questions is no, then telling people to “go kumusha” is not a solution.
It is simply transferring poverty from the city to the countryside.
And kumusha is not a dumping ground for citizens whom the urban economy has failed.
HARARE MUST BELONG TO THE PEOPLE
We at the Action Democratic Movement (ADM) believe in a Zimbabwe where every citizen can live and work with dignity.
We do not believe in a Zimbabwe divided between those who can afford to live in affluent suburbs and those who are treated as an inconvenience because they are poor.
We reject the idea of two Zimbabwes:
One Zimbabwe for the connected, wealthy and politically protected;
And another Zimbabwe for vendors, unemployed young people, pensioners, workers and ordinary families.
There must be one Zimbabwe.
And there must be one Harare.
A Harare where the poor are not chased away.
A Harare where informal traders can be organised rather than criminalised.
A Harare where residents receive clean water.
A Harare where refuse is collected.
A Harare where roads work.
A Harare where businesses can operate.
A Harare where young people can find employment.
A Harare where dignity does not depend on the size of your bank account.
MAYOR MAFUME, POWER IS TEMPORARY
Today you occupy the mayoral office.
Tomorrow someone else will sit in that chair.
Political positions come and go.
Chains of office come and go.
Councillors come and go.
Governments come and go.
But the people remain.
And history remembers how leaders treated ordinary citizens when they had power.
So I urge you: choose humility.
Speak to Zimbabweans with respect.
Do not look down upon the poor.
Do not treat struggling citizens as if they are an unwanted population.
Do not forget that behind every vendor is a family.
Behind every unemployed young person is a dream.
Behind every domestic worker is a household.
Behind every commuter is a human being.
Behind every struggling pensioner is a lifetime of contribution to this country.
AND LET US REMEMBER SOMETHING GREATER THAN POLITICS
Mayor Mafume, you are not God.
Neither am I.
None of us is superior to another human being.
We are all temporary occupants of this earth and temporary custodians of public responsibilities.
Therefore, treat people with the dignity you would want your own family to receive.
Never wish humiliation upon another household, because life has a way of reminding us that circumstances can change.
Today you may have authority.
Tomorrow circumstances may be different.
That is why karma, justice and history should teach every person in public office humility.
The poor deserve respect not because they are powerful, but because they are human beings.
OUR MESSAGE TO MAYOR MAFUME
Mayor, we are not asking you to perform miracles.
We are asking you to respect the people.
We are asking you to stop speaking about struggling Zimbabweans as though they are a problem to be removed.
We are asking you to govern with compassion.
We are asking you to remember that Harare is not merely buildings, malls, offices and business districts.
Harare is its people.
The woman selling tomatoes is Harare.
The young man looking for work is Harare.
The domestic worker travelling before sunrise is Harare.
The security guard working through the night is Harare.
The pensioner waiting for water is Harare.
The child walking to school through a neglected neighbourhood is Harare.
These people are not refugees.
They are Zimbabweans.
And Zimbabweans have a right to belong in their own capital.
Mayor Mafume, do not build a Harare that the poor must flee.
Build a Harare where the poor can rise.
Build a Harare where work replaces dependency.
Build a Harare where informal enterprise is transformed into formal enterprise.
Build a Harare where residents are treated as citizens—not nuisances.
Because when leadership begins telling its own people that they do not belong, the problem is no longer the people.
The problem is leadership.
The Action Democratic Movement will continue to stand for the dignity, rights and economic empowerment of ordinary Zimbabweans.
We will not accept a Zimbabwe where poverty becomes a reason for exclusion.
We will not accept a Zimbabwe where citizens become strangers in their own country.
Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans.
Harare is for Zimbabweans.
The poor are Zimbabweans.
And every Zimbabwean deserves dignity.
Arise. Simuka. Phakama.
Enough is Enough.
ADM President
Alice Nyamande
Action Democratic Movement
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