Budget poser for councils

Innocent Ruwende Senior Reporter
BUDGETS that were submitted by councils to the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing have been invalidated by prevailing economic dynamics, the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe, has said.

UCAZ president and Gweru Mayor Councillor Charles Chikozho said local authorities were going through difficult times.

“Most urban local authorities submitted their budgets last year and they are still to be approved,” he said. “The budgets are now useless and even if we submit supplementary budgets they will also be eroded even before their approval.

“Finance directors from all councils are meeting to find ways of dealing with the situation. Councils have since approached UCAZ so that we make submissions to the minister over the matter and also other pressing ones.”

Clr Chikozho said UCAZ will engage Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister July Moyo over rebates as councils were excluded from the reprieve granted to other sectors, despite not increasing their rates after the recent fuel price hike.

Clr Chikozho said the two percent intermediated money transfer tax was also bleeding councils, which were already financially hamstrung.

Last year, Government introduced a new budgeting system for local authorities which required councils to present programme-based budgets, which did not give room to hidden costs and allow residents to track council expenditure.

Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing principal director for urban and local authorities Ms Erica Jones said the old system gave councils room to hide certain costs in the budget and in financial statements.

She said the Government set up a broad framework of the 30:70 ratio in favour of service delivery, but it did not apply across all sectors.

Harare City Council presented a $472 million 2019 budget, which saw the local authority allocating over 10 percent to water and sanitation issues.

Most councils are failing to pay salaries and provide basic services such as clean water and refuse collection.