Break up Harare

It is obvious that Harare has grown too large to be managed as a single entity. The city fathers have neither the skills nor the resources to provide tolerably efficient services to the residents, whose numbers, one might add, are a matter of guesswork.The city of Harare is arguably among the most corrupt and poorly run city in southern Africa. Garbage still goes uncollected, water rarely runs continuously for a more than a few hours once every so often. If a city cannot provide running water to its residents, it loses its status and must revert to some other lower, less glamorous group of urban communities.In the meantime, the city's huge bureaucracy gobbles up most of the city funds, rendering the council incapable of delivering on much of its promises to ratepayers. Contracts, including such things as vending stalls, are corruptly awarded.I believe it is time to allow suburbia to incorporate into separate entities, much like Chitungwiza, with a measure of control over local affairs. Such a move would not only increase accountability in local governance, but would probably cut the cost of services and save ratepayers scarce financial resources, if not immediately, but perhaps in the long term.Incorporation of suburbia need not be done in a way as to introduce a new form of apartheid by insisting that each new entity provide a diversity of housing opportunities for lower, middle and upper income groups. It is time to think outside the cage for a solution to the seemingly endless crisis of local governance in the nation's capital. Breaking up Harare might be a good starting point.