Remember Deketeke
Municipal Correspondent
HARARE City Council has been operating with an average staff vacancy rate of 24 percent over the past decade, with critical senior management positions remaining unfilled for years, raising concerns over decision-making and the delivery of essential municipal services.
The proposed Harare Master Plan 2025-2045 reveals that the city’s executive management is among the worst affected by vacancies, with key positions in the Town Clerk’s, finance, human capital and planning services either vacant or yet to be filled substantively.
The report warns that the absence of substantive departmental heads has left the local authority’s administration fragmented, with senior officials serving in acting capacities.
“Critical to note is that the City’s executive is the most affected by the vacancies,” read the document.
The Town Clerk’s position has been vacant since May 2025, while the Finance Director’s post has remained unfilled since 2022.
The Human Capital Director’s position has been vacant since 2023, while the newly created post of Director of Planning Services has not been filled since August of the same year, according to the master plan.
“With senior council officials in acting capacities, this undermines decision-making performance,” the document states.
The staffing challenges come as Harare faces growing demands for reliable water supplies, sewer maintenance, refuse collection, road rehabilitation and other essential municipal services.
The master plan’s assessment of staffing trends between 2017 and 2021 shows that council vacancies fluctuated over the period, declining between 2017 and 2019 before increasing from 2020 to 2021.
The Works Department emerged as the most affected, consistently recording the highest number of vacancies during the five years, with the figure peaking at 1 032 in 2021.
“The Works Department appears to be the most affected, consistently having the highest vacancies throughout the five years, with a peak of 1,032 in 2021,” read the report.
The City Health Department also experienced a significant increase in vacancies between 2017 and 2021, potentially placing additional pressure on the provision of public health services.
The Human Capital Development Department recorded the lowest vacancy levels, averaging about 30 vacancies annually over the period under review.
The report also highlights staff turnover as another challenge affecting the city’s institutional capacity, with annual reports from the Human Capital Department showing that employees left council through retirements, resignations, dismissals and deaths.
Of particular concern was the increase in resignations between 2017 and 2021, reflecting a shift from retirements as the leading reason for staff departures.
“Of importance to note is the increase in the number of staff resignations between 2017 and 2021,” the document states.
The findings suggest that the council faces a two-pronged human resources challenge: filling critical vacant positions while retaining experienced employees whose departure could further weaken institutional capacity.
The shortage of technical personnel, particularly in the Works Department, also raises questions about the city’s capacity to implement the infrastructure projects and development priorities outlined in the proposed master plan.
The 2025-2045 planning framework seeks to guide Harare’s long-term development, making adequate staffing and effective leadership important considerations in translating its proposals into tangible improvements for residents.
The report’s findings place human capital management among the issues requiring attention as the city seeks to strengthen its administrative capacity and improve municipal service delivery.
