via Harare Water privatised | The Herald August 10, 2015
Harare City Council has transformed its water department into a private company, The Herald can reveal.
The company has since been registered as Harare City Water Corporation Private Limited.
According to minutes of the Human Resources and General Purposes Committee meeting, the city intends to turn the department into a utility.
The department is expected to ultimately become a Metro Utility incorporating Harare and all satellite towns like Chitungwiza, Norton, Ruwa and Epworth.
“The committee now considered a confidential report (11th June, 2015) by the human capital and public service director noting that Harare City Water Corporation (Pvt) Ltd is already a registered company, approval of the proposed organisational structure for Harare City Water Corporation (Pvt) Ltd and noting that all outstanding human resources issues of the Department of Harare Water would be attended to,” reads the minutes.
The human capital and public service director took the committee through his report providing the background to the registration of the Department of Harare Water as a private company.
The committee said ministers of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing and Environment, Water and Climate would announce board members of the utility in due course.
During the meeting, the committee was taken through the Harare Water Corporation (Pvt) Ltd top structure and organisational structures for lower level employees.
COMMENTS
Please advise if:
1) this contract to run Harare water went to tender or it was decided just to transform an existing municipal structure into a private utility.
2) the shareholders of Harare City Water Corporation Private Limited.
3) In particular, does Town Clerk Mahachi or any of his relatives or proxies hold a significant shareholding in this company.
4) Do any of the senior managers in the City of Harare hold shares in this company.
5) Does Minister Combo, or any of his relatives or proxies hold shares in this company.
6) Did any of the shareholders in the company pay for their shareholding, and if so what was the share price?
It would be nice to be sure that this is not yet another scam perpetrated by the city of Harare authorities against the residents of the city.
When I first saw the title I thought – there’s hope of water at last!
But then I saw it was in The Herald, then I read Owen’s 6 points – and I realised there was (as usual) absolutely NO hope.
Its just yet another “income generating project” for Organised Crime!
Ha ha ha. Very funny article and comments
well, diamonds are for ever some one once said. gold ,platinum, gas,oil, land are limited one day. But water the basic of all life is a very good long time private investment.
The idea of the utility is noble, but there is more to this than what meet the eyes. When a former municipal function is split, there is a need to look at functions of all the municipal departments, to avoid duplication of services and even increase cost to the consumers. There is no services that are being rendered by the municipal with regard to water, sewerage, refuse collection and other rating services but they are generating money from nothing. If this utility is to improve, there must be more than one companies offering water services to the people so that there is no monopoly. As a private entity, all private entities must compete unless if its government controlled and not for profit. Beside that the whole process is flowed and will increase cost unnecessarily, people will be now paying to two CEO, for same services that used to be failed by the greater Harare metropolitan. I see ZANU PF now wanting to take national infrastructure into their own companies. when new government comes into power, transaction done this way must be reversed, at what value are these assets going to be transferred. KASUKUWERE IS CORRIPT, this transaction must be resisted by the Harare Resident Association. It must have been taken to competition compliance and anti monopoly commission
BEWARE, this is a scam to benefit only mugabe&Co. Firstly, who decides on the value of the company. From this come the number of shares and their individual value. Finally, who can buy them or, which is more likely, be given them.
The human capital and public service director took the committee through his report providing the background to the registration of the Department of Harare Water as a private company. The committee said ministers of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing and Environment, Water and Climate would announce board members of the utility in due course.