adminWalter Nyamukondiwa Chinhoyi Bureau
Government is working on a framework to guide the disbursement of money allocated to departments that fall under the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing in line with provisions of the new Constitution.
Section 301 of the new Constitution provides for the allocation of at least 5 percent of national revenue to the local government, to help establish provincial and metropolitan councils among other fun- ctions.
Addressing the 11th Treasurers and Internal Auditors Conference in Kariba recently, principal director (rural local authorities) Mr Christopher Shumba welcomed the constitutionally guaranteed five percent allocation.
“The constitutionalisation of the local government sector and the allocation of at least 5 percent to the sector from the national fiscus, is indeed a welcome development,” said Mr Shumba.
The Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing is working with Treasury and other stakeholders towards the finalisation of the framework that shall guide the disbursement of the funds in question.
Government used to give grants to local authorities for capital projects and to meet service delivery. However, it was replaced by the Public Sector Investment Programme to fund capital development projects when revenue began to decline following the imposition of sanctions by the West.
Chief financial advisor in the ministry Mr Alpha Nhamo said consultations on the framework were in progress with stakeholders such as UN agencies joining hands with local partners.
He said the framework would look at modalities to disburse funds using an agreed formula that ensured all local authorities benefited.
“The formula looks at population density, the extent of need in the various councils and also infrastructure,” he said.
The formula would be anchored on statistics from ZimStats for accuracy.
Online Reporter