Bulawayo residents reject Garwe’s directive over Geo Pomona waste deal

An association of Bulawayo residents and rights groups has rejected a directive by Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe ordering the city to sign a waste management deal with Geo Pomona within a week, saying the move violates procurement laws and demanding public scrutiny of the agreement.

Garwe visited Bulawayo on 10 September, alongside Geo Pomona chief executive Dilesh Nguwaya and United Nations resident coordinator Rosemary Kalapurakal.

He gave the city one week to finalise the agreement, warning that central government would act unilaterally if the council failed to comply.

Garwe said Geo Pomona had obtained “cabinet authority” to replicate its waste management model, already used in Harare, across all major cities, including Bulawayo.

In a joint press statement, 11 civic groups said council leadership insisted that the council should not sign the memorandum of understanding (MOU) until its terms had been published and put through a competitive tender.

Councillors held an urgent meeting on Monday to consider Garwe’s directive. Speaking afterwards, Coltart said council had asked management to approach Geo Pomona for a draft MOU, rather than commit to signing anything outright, and had not set itself a deadline to do so.

The dispute comes amid long-standing concern in Bulawayo over smoke and pollution from the Richmond Landfill, known locally as Ngozi Mine, which borders Cowdray Park and Richmond.

The residents’ groups said they shared the government’s concern over the environmental and health hazards posed by the dumpsite, but accused authorities of disregarding due process in their rush to finalise the deal.

“The move to finalise the Geo Pomona deal undermines Zimbabwe’s procurement procedures, which are clearly stated in the Public Finance Management Act and Urban Councils Act,” the statement read.

“We fear that these legal frameworks have been violated in this case at the expense of residents’ interests. The shadowy deal from Geo Pomona deserves public scrutiny.”

The groups also flagged a potential conflict of interest, arguing that Nguwaya, besides heading Geo Pomona, also serves as presidential advisor on waste management.

They called on the City of Bulawayo to publish details of what it is doing to address the health hazard in Cowdray Park, as previously requested by residents and the Environmental Management Agency, and demanded that the council’s own procurement process — which had already attracted expressions of interest from several local companies — be made public.

The organisations said they had “an organised alternative” for Bulawayo’s waste management and were willing to present it to the city and other interested parties.

The statement was signed by Ibhetshu Likazulu, the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association, Constitution Defenders Forum, Defend the Constitution Platform, SWITA, Habakkuk Trust, the Bulawayo Waste Management Traders Association, the Public Policy Research Institute of Zimbabwe, the Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Organisation, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), and Cowdray Park Residents.

More: ZimLive