By Edgar Gweshe| On Thursday, a crack team from the City of Harare led by Ward 15 Councilor, Tafadzwa Machirori and a group of concerned residents apprehended a private refuse collector who was collecting refuse for a fee in Belvedere but later dumping the rubbish in the high-density suburb of Warren Park.

This resulted in heaps of uncollected garbage at Warren Park shopping centre, a situation that exposed residents to various diseases.

The private refuse collector identified as Usuf Takaziva Tambe would collect refuse every Tuesday and Wednesday from Belvedere and dump it at Warren Park Shopping Centre.

This was a calculated strategy to avoid dumping at Pomona dump site as he wanted to maximize on money collected from residents. Private refuse collectors are charged when using Pomona Dump site.
He was apprehended while driving a Mazda Bongo truck- registration number ADH 3456.

Tambe was taken to Warren Park Police station and was immediately fined US$30 by the police, US$200 by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and US$385 by the City of Harare.

The City of Harare confirmed the arrest of Tambe adding that the issue of private refuse collectors dumping waste at undesignated points was prevalent.

“It’s now clear that some of the rubbish we see on road sides like in the Warren Park area are being dumped by private collectors. Let’s work together to stop these people,” said City of Harare Spokesperson, Stanley Gama.

However Tambe showed no remorse and exhibited a high sense of ignorance when contacted over the matter.

In response to questions sent to him, Tambe initially said; “Do you need my consent to write your paper?”

But when pressed further he responded with a deep sense of megalomania.

Perhaps just arrogance or a boastful character?

“I’m a black male from Mrewa with a penis measuring 17.2cm. That’s my comment,” said Tambe.

Could this be a sense of arrogance or a show of some power- probably a show of being superhuman.

Whatever the case, this indicates the high levels of arrogance by individuals posing a threat to the lives of residents in Harare while pocketing money through unorthodox means.

One would expect a person endangering the lives of residents to show remorse and be apologetic but such a sense of arrogance is certainly inhumane.
Tambe’s behaviour puts to credence reports that he claimed he was a member of President Mnangagwa’s security- in an attempt to instill fear on the team that had apprehended him. Thankfully, the crack team was unmoved and would have none of his claims.

In any case why would someone use the President’s name to evade arrest for dumping rubbish yet the President has led a number of clean up campaigns around the country. If his claims that he is part of the President’s security team are true- Tambe could have attended one or more of those clean up campaigns and learnt better.
But he choses to tell the nation something that he definitely needs to keep to himself in a show of deep arrogance.

Residents have proposed the need for detterent fines or even custodial sentences if the practice by private refuse collectors is to be nipped in the bud.

It is imperative for residents to form teams that consistently monitor areas where garbage is being disposed and report any forms of illegal dumping to responsible authorities.

We should never allow those that endanger our lives to operate with arrogance and a sense of impunity.

The law is the law and everyone is bound to respect it.