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Ruth Butaumocho Gender Profile —
Growing up tilling the land in the heart of Chipinge, then a little a girl, Dr Savie Munoriarwa longed for a better life than what her parents were exposing her to.
Despite emulating the virtues of hard work that her parents had instilled in her, she told herself that she would fare better with an office job and escape from such traverses of life.
Looking back, not only did she get office work, but she even became an executive tasked to transform lives through quality service provision.
Dr Munoriarwa is the chief executive officer of Bindura Rural District Council. She joins the growing list of few discerning women who are heading local authorities across Zimbabwe.
“Hard work has pushed me to where I am today,” she revealed in an interview recently.
While that kind of leap of faith-from an ordinary rural girl to an executive- might read like the Cinderella fairy tale, Dr Munoriarwa says it was a result of hard work.
For someone who has worked in local authorities for nearly two decades from the time she joined local government ministry in 1998, born Savie Pfukwa, Dr Munoriarwa now regards herself as “baby” of the local authority.
Having served in different positions in accounting from 1998, to 2011 when she was appointed the chief executive officer of Bindura Rural District Council, Dr Munoriarwa is among a clique of people who are well-versed with challenges facing local authorities and are working flat out to bring lasting solutions to the diverse nature of services in municipalities.
She believes that current problems besetting local authorities across were largely due to the implementation of fragmented strategies that departments proffer, meant to address the same problem.
“Local authorities have isolationist service delivery strategies which are fragmented and in consistent with their internal and external environments. Lack of concise implementation as well monitoring and evaluation make their strategic management process almost dysfunctional.
“There should be deliberate efforts to link departmental strategies to ensure positive results, and improve on efficiency,” she said.
A firm believer in consultation and an avid team player, Dr Munoriarwa says her experience in local authority issues gives a competitive edge, in dealing with myriad of challenges that beset local authorities.
Some of the problems include refuse collection, water and sewer provision, servicing of residential stands and disease outbreaks.
Bindura Rural District Council recently completed servicing residential stands in Manhenga District Centre, affording local residents an opportunity to own houses.
Sprucing up the Manhenga district centre, is among several initiatives that Dr Munoriarwa and her team are currently working on to restore the glory of Bindura Rural District Council that was run down by the previous management team, leaving all the systems in shambles.
“Through consultation, we managed to assemble a team called “Team Bindura” to come up with strategies that can be used to turn around the fortunes of the council.
“The team made up of councilors, chiefs, Members of Parliament, the business community and other sectors, are working tireless to prop up the council, information and skills sharing as well as problem sharing.
“We want the community to take ownership on the operations of the rural district council,” she revealed.
Her success was not without its share of problems, especially when she tried to assemble a team from the heavily fragmented work force that was naturally disillusioned with working conditions and non-working systems with some employees going for days without reporting for work.
“It was not easy to come up with a team. There was heavy resistance and in some instances outright rejection of decisions to normalize the environment and ensure that people begin to work,” she said.
However, putting her consultation expertise in motion, Dr Munoriarwa eventually convinced her workforce to improve the well-being of the district council.
With the knowledge gained from her experience working in the council and her studies which focused on the operations of local authorities, Dr Munoriarwa is now focusing on ensuring that local authorities improve on service delivery.
“With right people for the positions and expertise within councils, team work and effective implementation of allocated budgets, municipalities and local authorities can perform better than what was the case.”
A holder of a Master in Strategic Management and also a doctorate in the same discipline- Strategic Management, one of Dr Munoriarwa’s thesis was on why budgets for local authorities did not perform well.
“I have since realized that these budgets do not perform well because of poor consultation of stakeholders and unrealistic figures that are thrown around from the onset
“We need to look at collaborative efforts between local authorities and several partners who are in our midst so that we tap into the expertise and wealth of resources for the benefit of the council,” she said.
While she tackles her bit at the helm of Bindura Rural District Council, Dr Munoriarwa has set her mind on mentoring other women around her and within local authorities to take up challenging posts within their midst.
“It feels great to be in leadership and captaining a work force which believes in team work and inspires you to achieve.
“When I was an accountant there were not many women, despite the available opportunities that were there.
“I now want to mentor women so that they can aspire to do more for themselves in the diverse careers that are currently there and to believe in their capabilities,” she said.
Dr Munoriarwa said it was important for women to invest in education at whatever age, to leverage and enhance their opportunities.
Inspired by her parents, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the late local authority perm secretary, Killian Mpingo, who inspired her to be a person of integrity, Dr Munoriarwa says she would not be hanging her boots soon, but wants to leave a legacy of professionalism and efficiency in local authority.
“I would love to leave a legacy and it is important to serve our constituencies diligently,” said Dr Munoriarwa who is married to Gerald Munoriarwa and the two are blessed with two grown up children.
Online Reporter