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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
GOVERNMENT has warned Bulawayo councillors that they will be liable for mismanagement of resources in the local authority, the city’s Mayor, Councillor Solomon Mguni, has confirmed.
Clr Mguni said this emerged during the councillors’ induction workshop with Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister July Moyo last Thursday.
He said the Minister made it clear that councillors were superior to council management and would be responsible for governance issues that may arise.
“What is critical is that he reminded us that we are the ones who are in charge. When he comes here and things go wrong, he will not deal with management but councillors. He said we are the ones who were elected by the people and we are accountable to them and him,” Clr Mguni said.
“Before the induction meeting, we would have councillors behaving as if they are employees of management yet they are the ones who are in charge. It was clarified that when things go wrong, the Minister will descend on us. That was very loud and clear.”
He said the induction workshop enlightened councillors on the scope of their duties and what is expected of them.
Clr Mguni said councillors were told their roles and how they should engage residents in council committees.
“It was just an engagement for us to have sufficient knowledge in terms of the legal position of the Urban Councils Act and Constitutional provisions. The induction meeting had delayed because we had assumed our duties without being inducted.
“We had to conduct the budget consultation without being inducted. It was then important that we have that interaction with the Minister who is our overseer so that we hear from him the dos and don’ts,” he said.
“If we worked like headless chickens we would have found ourselves in trouble for doing things wrongly. Our parameters have been set and that of the management. This will also curb conflicts between council and management.”
Clr Mguni hailed Minister Moyo for his candid discussions with councillors.
He said the Minister has promised to work with councillors without interfering in their work.
“He has promised that he is not going to micro manage us. In the spirit of devolution, we are the ones who will run things in the province and we would like to believe that we will work together without any problems. He sounds professional. I think we are going to work well together,” Clr Mguni said. — @nqotshili
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