Online Reporter
Remember Deketeke
Herald Correspondent
THE Government is preparing to unveil the Call-to-Action No 2 in the first quarter of next year, a new operational blueprint designed to improve service delivery in Zimbabwe’s 92 local authorities by building on recent reforms and aligning councils with Vision 2030 targets.
Local Government and Public Works Permanent Secretary Dr John Basera told a recent post-Budget meeting in Harare that the second phase would consolidate progress made under the initial Call to Action and further strengthen council performance systems.
Dr Basera said the new framework would sharpen service delivery mechanisms, improve coordination across local tiers of Government and deepen administrative reforms that began under the original initiative.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works is coming up with Call-to-Action No. 2 during the first quarter of next year, which will consolidate the gains from Call-to-Action No. 1,” he said.
He urged legislators and local authorities to actively participate in rolling out the programme, particularly through better organisation, communication and leadership follow-through.
Dr Basera said despite tight fiscal conditions over the past year, the ministry implemented major components of the first Call to Action, providing groundwork for the next stage.
“Despite a tight budget, the ministry was able to implement key features of Call to Action No 1. All local authorities now have masterplans, which are in the minister’s office awaiting approval, valuation rolls, and enterprise resource planning systems,” he said.
He said these achievements are essential foundations for reliable service delivery nationwide, including planning, land management, billing, accountability and infrastructure development.
According to Dr Basera, council revenue collection also improved following the roll-out of Call-to-Action No 1.
“We have seen our revenue collection improving from about 52 percent to 65 percent,” he said.
“So, with the coming in of Call-to-Action No 2, we expect to see more service delivery towards the attainment of an upper-middle-income economy by 2030.”
The Call to Action is a Government reform programme introduced in 2023 to address chronic weaknesses in local authorities such as poor billing systems, deteriorating infrastructure, land management disputes, corruption, weak financial controls and collapsing service delivery.
Under the blueprint, councils were required to draw up modern masterplans, develop valuation rolls for property taxation, install enterprise resource planning systems, improve revenue collection, adopt transparent land-use processes, and implement tighter financial compliance measures.
The initiative followed long-standing concerns about erratic refuse collection, water shortages, sewer breakdowns, poor road maintenance and unregulated settlements across major urban and rural councils.
It also responded to repeated Government and public complaints about mismanagement and a lack of accountability within local authorities.
Call to Action set minimum governance standards that councils had to meet, while the ministry conducted mandatory performance assessments.
The programme marked one of the most structured national efforts in recent years to restore service delivery and align municipalities with Vision 2030.
