Zimbabwe’s Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has blamed the opposition for the poor public goods and services in urban areas.
Speaking during a ZANU PF’s Presidium Rally at Mbare Netball Complex open space, Chiwenga claimed that the opposition is slowing down the country’s progress towards an empowered upper-middle-income economy, and that in many urban areas, the opposition has dominated since the turn of the millennium, resulting in a collapse of services, infrastructure, and amenities. Chiwenga said this has been a huge source of pain for the Second Republic, particularly at a time when President Mnangagwa is championing development in every corner of the country.
Chiwenga urged people to vote for President Mnangagwa and ruling party candidates for council and parliamentary seats in the August 23 national elections. He also spoke about several infrastructure projects, agricultural enhancement projects, the country’s tourism contribution to the Gross Domestic Product, and other economic enhancing programmes that the government is undertaking to attain an empowered upper-middle-income economy. He said:
<blockquote>
The August 23 elections come on the backdrop of people in urban areas, whose councils are under opposition parties, having to endure several years of suffering in the absence of services that councils should provide.
 Urban roads have become impassable, clean water has long deserted our taps and garbage is largely uncollected, pilling near our homes.
Their stints in councils have clearly shown that these opposition parties are not good at anything expect making lives difficult for residents and inviting illegal economic sanctions on the country.
As the ruling party, we are pained to see our people being subjected to this sad kind of living marked by poverty as a result of opposition councils’ ineptitude and corruption.
August 23 is an opportunity to correct this by resoundingly voting for President Mnangagwa and ruling party candidates for council and parliamentary seats.
</blockquote>
The rally aimed to gather support for President Mnangagwa, the Zanu PF party’s candidate for the Presidential Elections, as well as the party’s house of assembly and council candidates for the August 23 national elections. Martin Matinyanya and Maureen Nyemba are representing the party in the Mbare and Southerton constituencies, respectively. These two constituencies, like many others in Harare Metropolitan Province and other urban areas, have been controlled by the opposition since the year 2000. 
The opposition accuses the ruling ZANU PF party of meddling in the affairs of local government authorities led by the opposition, resulting in a lack of service delivery. The opposition alleges that ZANU PF is attempting to impinge upon service delivery to manipulate the electorate into voting for the ruling party. However, ZANU PF claims that it is merely exercising its oversight role, as expected of the Ministry of Local Government. These accusations and counter-accusations have led to a breakdown in cooperation between the ruling party and the opposition-led local government authorities, resulting in a lack of service delivery in many urban areas. Zimbabwe is scheduled to hold harmonised elections on August 23, 2023. 
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VP Chiwenga Blames Opposition For Poor Urban Services

At least 30 families are now homeless after a fire broke out at a block of flats at <a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/2021/07/01/18-families-left-homeless-as-minor-ignites-fire-in-matapi-flats/">Matapi hostels in Harare late Wednesday afternoon.</a>
There are conflicting reports on what caused the fire with some reporting that the fire was ignited by a minor who was playing with a candle after a power cut while others say it could have been caused by an electrical fault.
The affected families lost property worth thousands of dollars and are now appealing for food, clothes, and shelter.
NewZimbabwe.com photographer Thandiwe Garusa visited the hostels Thursday and captured scenes below.
<img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-199023" decoding="async" height="449" loading="lazy" src="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/newzimlive/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/02133820/Matapi-1-scaled-e1625229533277.jpg" width="800"/><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-199025" decoding="async" height="449" loading="lazy" src="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/newzimlive/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/02134036/Matapi1-e1625229664867.png" width="800"/><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-199026" decoding="async" height="449" loading="lazy" src="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/newzimlive/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/02134306/Matapi3-e1625229843410.png" width="800"/><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-199029" decoding="async" height="449" loading="lazy" src="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/newzimlive/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/02135002/Matapi6-e1625230778844.png" width="800"/><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-199031" decoding="async" height="1688" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 3008px) 100vw, 3008px" src="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/newzimlive/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/02140244/Matapi7.png" srcset="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/newzimlive/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/02140244/Matapi7.png 3008w, https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/newzimlive/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/02140244/Matapi7-300x168.png 300w, https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/newzimlive/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/02140244/Matapi7-1024x575.png 1024w, https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/newzimlive/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/02140244/Matapi7-768x431.png 768w, https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/newzimlive/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/02140244/Matapi7-1536x862.png 1536w, https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/newzimlive/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/02140244/Matapi7-2048x1149.png 2048w" width="3008"/><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-199028" decoding="async" height="449" loading="lazy" src="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/newzimlive/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/02134801/DSC066981-scaled-e1625230101741.jpg" width="800"/>
More: <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/in-pictures-matapi-flats-destroyed-by-fire/">NewZimbabwe</a>

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