HARARE - Harare deputy mayor Emmanuel Chiroto has defied his boss’ call to step down and went about his duties yesterday, visiting the typhoid-infested high density suburb of Glen View.

Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda this week advised Chiroto and other expelled MDC councillors to spare themselves from embarrassment by vacating their offices.

Instead of complying with Masunda’s directive, Chiroto visited Glen View to check how his council is doing to fight the water-borne disease.

“I cannot comment nyaya dzemuma newspaper,” was all Chiroto could say when asked by the Daily News to comment on Masunda’s free advice.

But this did not stop Chiroto from meeting residents in Glen View who told him how their lives are at risk of another cholera outbreak due to uncollected refuse.

“Even if the nurses preach to us about hygiene, it does not help if at the end of the day we have garbage at our doorsteps and no safe and adequate water supplies,” said a Glen View resident Agnes Mabukwa.

Since June last year, over 1 000 suspected typhoid cases have been recorded in Harare with 188 of them confirmed.

Chiroto, however, assured residents that the problems will be dealt with expeditiously.

“I can safely say that everyone is running around to make sure issues of service delivery are addressed so that typhoid is permanently dealt with,” he said.

Though refuse collection has notably improved, council still faces an uphill task to totally normalise waste management.

Glen View 3 Polyclinic, though receiving a significant number of typhoid cases, is faced with water challenges the same way its community is grappling with the problem. - Wendy Muperi