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Local authorities should consult residents and other stakeholders when crafting budgets so that they can effectively respond to the needs of communities, Rural Development Promotion and Preservation of National Culture and Heritage Minister Abednigo Ncube said last week. Outlining his ministry’s mandate at the inaugural meeting with the head office directorate and staff, provincial and district administrators and rural district councils, Minister Ncube said it was Government’s expectation that budgets reflected the consultative process and were guided by the country’s economic blueprint Zim-Asset.
“It is imperative that revenue collected by local authorities is judiciously managed and invested in programmes that improve the quality of life of your residents,” he said. “The same budgets should reach head office by the 20th of November 2015 — as earlier as communicated through the Department of Rural Local Authorities.
“We wish to encourage councils to continue giving attention to service delivery areas such as road maintenance, water, sanitation, health, education and general infrastructure development that enhance the livelihoods of the rural citizenry.”
Minister Ncube said it was equally important for sub-national authorities such as RDC’s and traditional leaders to actively participate in the development of arts and culture within their areas of jurisdiction.
He said the challenge of illegal settlements continued to affect operations of local authorities across the country as individuals indiscriminately settled in grazing areas and places reserved for different land use.
As planning and development control authorities, he said, local authorities were supposed to act decisively to reverse this trend. “It is also important that the office of the PA and DA and the local authority are readily accessible to both the public and other institutions to ensure that we are responsive to the needs of our people.
“We appreciate the challenging environment that you are in and I urge you all to stay committed to the cause of serving the people of Zimbabwe. It is my firm belief that the challenges at hand are not insurmountable.”
The Association of RDCs president Mr David Mutasa said: “We were working with local urban authorities and we hope that having our own ministry helps us in that it will pay attention to challenges affecting us such as the issue of roads and Zinara road fund allocations.”
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