Chronicle Editor
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
THE performance of all local authorities will soon come under scrutiny as the Government is setting up an Inspectorate Department which will monitor their operations and present the findings to President Mnangagwa who will use them to review the performance of each local authority.
The development is a follow up to the blueprint that was launched by President Mnangagwa late last year dubbed — A Call to Action: No Compromise to Service Delivery which broadly seeks to modernise the operations of local authorities towards Vision 2030.
According to the blueprint an Inspectorate Department will be established in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works to monitor compliance with the law and established regulations on service delivery; compliance with standard operating procedures for service delivery; compliance with action plans developed to achieve service delivery standards; and implementation of the above policy measures.
Responding to questions from Sunday News on what Government was doing to address the lawlessness and poor service delivery characterising councils, particularly urban ones, Director of Communication and Advocacy in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works Mr Gabriel Masvora said the Central Government was already in the process of setting up the Inspectorate Department.
“Present Mnangagwa on 1 November 2023 launched a blueprint — A Call to Action: No Compromise to Service Delivery — which broadly seeks to modernise the operations of local authorities towards a 2030 Vision. In the blueprint, it is clear what local authorities have to do to ensure that they deal with problems some of which you included above. One of the key factors outlined is renewal. Local Authorities have been mandated to design and implement plans to achieve renewal and modernisation to the levels consistent with an upper middle-class economy.
“It must therefore be noted that the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works is in the process of forming an Inspectorate Department which will monitor the operations of local authorities and findings will be tabled to President Mnangagwa when he reviews performance of each local authority,” said Mr Masvora.
He urged local authorities to ensure that they update and abide to their by-laws so that they can be able to keep their cities clean. In addition, he said law enforcement agents have the constitutional mandate to arrest all those who are carrying out illegal activities in cities.
The formulation of the blueprint ensured that an integrated approach and program is put in place to ensure that all local authorities deliver a service in sync with an upper middle-income economy with an urgent requirement for all local authorities to achieve acceptable service delivery levels and observe all applicable laws. — @nyeve14
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