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Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
FINANCE and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube yesterday said the implementation of devolution is well on course, with 60 percent of more than $700 million allocated for the programme having been disbursed.
Addressing a Mid-Term budget review breakfast meeting in Bulawayo, Prof Ncube said the funds are for projects at provincial and district levels.
“For devolution we’ve allocated $703 million and every province is covered. About 25 percent of the budget is at provincial level while 75 percent of the budget is at rural district level.
“The districts have been accessing those funds and so far we’ve disbursed about 60 percent. In terms of what we allocated earlier and the additional allocation, it’s coming through quite well and I hope the local authorities can absorb these resources and we’re expecting them to use the money on projects, not on cars and salaries,” said Prof Ncube.
He said local authorities are expected to fund devolution projects that will be tracked by Treasury for purposes of accountability and transparency.
“Treasury tracks all these projects. We know all the projects, the people managing them and when they’re likely to be completed. We have a data base of every single project funded by Government in this country and we make the information public.
“We put all the details in the Press in terms of the type of project, the amount injected, the status of the project and the challenges,” said the Minister.
Prof Ncube said Government wants to regenerate the local economy and know the GDPs of each province.
He said at some point provinces and districts will be able to collect mini taxes and levies, adding that the Urban Taxes Act allows them to do that.
“The revenue collection is key to stimulate the economy in our provinces. This budget is pro-poor in the sense of social protection and pro-growth in terms of driving the economy to the next level.
“Certainly given the mantra of this budget and given the strong foundation laid so far, I believe that it has lived up to that challenge of building a firm foundation for the prosperity of Zimbabwe,” said Prof Ncube.
He said Government had also set aside $40 million to launch a new venture capital fund to support various projects in the country.
“Young people in Zimbabwe, especially in the ICT sector, are creative. Their ideas need to be funded and this is important. We’ve therefore set up a venture fund. There will be a public private partnership and we’ll be approaching pension funds to partner with the Government and put in their capital.
“The fund will be managed by the private sector. We’ll have professional managers managing the fund. Our job will be just to give seed capital,” said Prof Ncube.
The budget review meeting was attended by officials from different Government departments, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, captains of industry and business associations. — @pamelashumba1
Online Reporter