Chitungwiza works towards city status

Addressing councillors, senior managers and employee representatives here at a 2011 strategic planning workshop, Mr Tanyanyiwa said with a population of over two million, there was no reason why Chitungwiza should not become a city in its own right.

He said in the next general elections, the municipality needed more wards to cater for the increased population.
Of concern among councillors, management and employees is the negative image of the municipality. Issues that have created the negative image include delays in paying employee sala-ries and corruption allegations against fired councillors, including former mayor Mr Israel Marange.

Mr Tanyanyiwa said labour unrest had become a threat to Chitungwiza’s well-being, as well as delays in approving construction at Nyatsime Housing Estate.
Chitungwiza experiences flight of skilled manpower and struggles to attract midwives, engineers and lawyers.
Mr Tanyanyiwa said, “We are here to correct past mistakes such as delays in paying employee salaries. We want to develop into a city and we want strategies of how we get there.”

He challenged the workshop to come up with a strategy to build an infectious diseases hospital for Chitungwiza. Residents can sue the local authority if they fail to get such services.
Chitungwiza has enough land for the hospital but has not lobbied vigorously for funding.
The workshop was dominated by frank exchanges of ideas, with councillors and employees pointing out each other’s weaknesses.

Strategies to improve revenue collection were suggested, among them effective service delivery, timeous distribution of bills, levying all vendors and charging backyard businesses commercial rates.
“In future, we are looking at discounting residents who pay bills in advance,” said an official from the finance department.
Residents and businesses owe Chitungwiza US$25 million with some having not paid a single bill since January 2009.
Chamber secretary Ms Omega Mugumbate urged the workshop to devise an effective public relations plan while councillors were tasked to urge their ward constituents to pay bills.
Councillors agreed that residents should be informed of all developments at council.