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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Senior Reporter
The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works has disbursed $11,8 billion to local authorities for capital projects under the Devolution Fund as the Second Republic pushes the development agenda which seeks to leave no one behind.
To this end, local authorities have also been encouraged to ensure that they take into consideration the views of citizens with regards to the developments they need.
The 2023 National Budget allocated $52,5 billion towards devolution which was expected to enhance infrastructure development in line with the Vision 2030 which seeks to create an upper middle income economy.
Speaking during the post-Cabinet briefing yesterday, Acting Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Jenfan Muswere said besides the direct disbursements to local authorities, another $5,3 billion had been disbursed for the procurement of fire tenders under the Belarus-Zimbabwe Cooperation.
“Local Authorities should put in place mechanisms to enable continuous feedback in addressing citizens’ needs. Councils are also expected to effectively take charge of development control through production of master and local plans,” he said.
“Performance of Local Authorities in service delivery has been militated by a number of factors, some of which the Central Government is in the process of addressing. The nation is informed that the 2022 Local Authority budget review process reflected non-alignment to the National Vision, non-disclosure of all revenue streams, non-adherence to statutes when budgeting, no valuation rolls, absence of by-laws and that audits were lagging behind.”
Minister Muswere said in 2022, Local Authorities collected $134,7 billion against a target of Z$173,2 billion, which constituted 78 percent of the actual budget performance. Major revenue sources for the authorities were property tax which accounted for 29 percent, service charges at also 29 percent and fees at 10 percent.
“A total of 88 Local Authority budgets were approved in January 2023 with the exception of estimates of income and expenditure for Binga and Murewa Rural District Councils, Karoi Town Council and Lupane Local Board. Cabinet is emphasising the crucial role played by the public in the budget formulation process to ensure prioritisation of citizen needs,” he added.
He said the Councils’ 2023 revenue was estimated at $1,1 trillion, with service charges and property taxes constituting the major revenue streams.
At least 40 percent of this budget, which translates to $441 billion of the revenue is expected to be spent on capital projects, with $127,6 billion being deployed towards Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) activities.
Government has also noted that local authorities have several issues which affect their smooth operation.
These include pending labour cases that have seriously affected governance in local authorities culminating in poor service delivery, unwillingness by ratepayers to pay taxes to which end the local authorities are owed in excess of $162 billion.
Minister Muswere said local authorities were also affected by the non-compliance with Central Government policies and legislation.
“To overcome the above, Central Government is facilitating rapid and equitable development through the disbursement of devolution funds to local authorities.”
“A Whole-of-Government Approach will be adopted with the Central Government collaborating with local authorities for efficient service delivery and promotion of good governance. On their part, the number of Councils using the Local Authorities Digital Systems (LADS) as a budgeting tool has increased to 52 from 26,” said Minister Muswere.
“Most Local Authorities have crafted by-laws, an important regulating and revenue raising instrument. Revenue accruing to the Local Authorities is also on the upward trend having increased to 29 percent of national revenue estimates in 2023 from the 11 percent in 2022 and 7 percent in 2021.”
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