Council set to reshuffle boards

Innocent Ruwende Senior Reporter
Harare City Council is set to reshuffle members of its external boards, removing councillors and replacing them with professionals, following poor performance by some of the city’s entities.

The boards handle millions of dollars.

Some of the boards include the Harare Municipal Medical Aid Society (HMMAS), which is paid over $600 000 monthly by council for its 7 500 employees.

The medical aid society has been struggling to provide a decent service, eroding the city workers’ morale.

City officials have since recommended that council must do away with HMMAS.

They want workers to join medical aid providers of their choice, but at a low cost to council.

Councillors have shot down the proposal that was going to see the city saving $5 million annually.

Council is also in arrears in its employer component contribution to HMMAS.

Other boards to be affected include Harare Sunshine Holdings and its subsidiaries and the Local Authorities Pension Fund.

Harare’s mayor councillor Bernard Manyenyeni said board renewal was in line with good corporate governance.

“I am very sure that there are costly deficiencies in other areas which require infusing fresh competencies for the goals to be achieved,” he said.

“Some of our external boards have to deal with very specialised work.

“Nothing short of the requisite backgrounds will deliver the right oversight in such boards.”