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Innocent Ruwende Municipal Reporter
Many key positions at Harare City Council are being manned by people in an acting capacity, which Local Government experts and residents believe is impacting negatively on service delivery as these acting officials shy away from making critical decisions and spend more time jostling for posts.
Experts say the current status obtaining at council was a conducive breeding ground for corruption, lack of accountability and transparency.
The majority of people in acting positions at the council reportedly make decisions that protect them from councillors, who at times influence their appointment or removal from such positions.
It emerged only three out of seven departmental directors are permanent, while several managers are acting.
Mrs Josephine Ncube has been acting town clerk since the removal of Dr Tendai Mahachi last year, while Mr Charles Kandemiri has been acting chamber secretary.
Engineer Simon Muserere is also acting Harare Water director, while Retired Major Matthew Marara is acting Housing and Community Services director and, Mr Tendai Kwenda is acting Finance director.
Director of Works Eng Phillip Pfukwa, Health director Dr Prosper Chonzi and Human Capital director Dr Cainos Chingombe are the only substantive directors, while several managers are also acting.
Local Government expert Mr Percy Toriro, on Sunday said it was not good for any organisation to go for a long time with strategic positions being held by people in acting capacity.
“This situation has an element of uncertainty and affects the confidence of office holders. This in turn affects service delivery in that officers shy away from making critical decisions. A lot of time is also wasted by negative jostling for positions with others even working to prove others’ incompetence or trying to outdo them.
“As a local government practitioner and a resident of the city, I urge authorities to stabilise the situation by moving as quickly as practically possible to appoint the right people,” he said.
According to a study carried out by the Harare Residents Association called An Analysis into the Impact of Acting Heads of Departments in running the City of Harare, officials holding positions in an acting capacity have very little room to challenge decisions made by other heads.
The study says there are high possibilities that during the acting period, the person lacks independence and, is open to manipulation by councillors.
“The absence of a substantive finance director makes it extremely difficult for the person acting to make substantial proposals, fearing that the proposals might be turned down by the councillors, risking the chances of landing the position on a substantive basis.”
“This current status, where the Harare City has acting heads of department is causing a lot of corruption, lack of accountability and transparency within the city. This reflects a sign of poor governance in the local government sector,” reads part of the findings.
Human Resources and General Purposes chairperson councillor Wellington Chikombo said, council would soon appoint “competent individuals in the critical positions.”
“We do not want to repeat the same mistake for hiring people to seek exposure instead of delivering. We have notified Government of our intention to fill some of the positions, and we are still waiting for a nod to continue.
“My committee is ready, so too the council leadership,” said Clr Chikombo.
Online Reporter