Manyenyeni orders Zanu PF to pull down congress signposts

via Manyenyeni orders Zanu PF to pull down congress signposts – NewsDay Zimbabwe December 17, 2014

HARARE mayor Bernard Manyenyeni yesterday ordered Zanu PF officials to pull down signposts they erected at the Civic Centre near Rotten Row Magistrates’ Courts where it christened the area as Robert Mugabe Square, while a road leading to the open ground was named Dr Grace Mugabe Way.

Manyenyeni said the signposts were temporary and illegal as they were erected without council approval ahead of the Zanu PF congress that ended last week.

After the event, the former open space seems to have lost its look amid reports that the Zanu PF government was looking into building a permanent structure and maintain the name Robert Mugabe Square and the small roads.

Manyenyeni told NewsDay yesterday that the Zanu PF event was like a “wedding” and all “balloons” should, therefore, be removed.

“It’s unofficial and we expect whoever is involved to send a message of compliance by removing them. We treated them as temporary and not permanent renaming of any part of the city without council approval.

“It’s like balloons at a wedding and they should be removed immediately after the event,” Manyenyeni said.

Residents in Chitungwiza, who are also part of Harare Metropolis, weighed in, saying the square should be reserved as an open space and the renaming of the roads should be reversed forthwith.

“The square should be reserved as an open space. We need to know if due process was done in the naming of the square after Robert Mugabe, that is going through a full council meeting,”
Chitungwiza Residents’ Trust said.

Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo, who announced the renaming of the roads ahead of the congress, was not immediately available yesterday, but NewsDay yesterday observed that most structures had been removed with the exception of the signposts.