Murtaza Wahab has come under sharp criticism from Munim Zafar Khan, who questioned the legitimacy of the Karachi mayor and accused the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of imposing him on the city through changes in election rules and constituency boundaries.
Addressing the media, the Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chief said that while Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had expressed confidence in Murtaza Wahab and the PPP government in Sindh, the residents of Karachi consider him a “fake mayor.”
Munim Zafar stressed that being affiliated with the PPP was not the main issue, saying the real concern was that the mandate had been “stolen” through what he described as manipulated delimitations and amendments in election rules by the Election Commission of Pakistan, which allowed the mayor to be imposed on the city’s residents.
He further alleged that these changes enabled a “mafia” to take control over Karachi.
Criticising the Sindh government’s performance, Khan highlighted Karachi’s long-standing water issues, noting that the city’s water supply had not increased in the past 18 years. He pointed out that the K-IV Water Project had been under development for 21 years but remained incomplete.
On infrastructure, he said Karachi’s facilities were in a dilapidated condition. He highlighted that Rs4 billion had been spent on the Karimabad Underpass, yet the project was still incomplete. He added that authorities were making “big claims” while only constructing minor streets, arguing that better traffic management could have reduced the need for such underpasses.
Khan also criticised traffic and safety conditions, saying residents were “left at the mercy of dumpers and trailers” and that citizens often fell victim to street crime after surviving accidents. “Citizens face accidents daily, and this is the performance of the PPP,” he remarked.
He questioned the administrative control of the Karachi Development Authority, asking under whose authority it operates and alleging it too was under PPP control.
Regarding water projects, Khan said that Rs12.8 billion had been spent on the Hub Canal Project, yet residents still do not have access to water, underscoring what he described as ongoing governance failures in Karachi.
