Online Reporter
Herald Reporter
Harare City Council is contemplating returning the once vibrant ward retention fund to cater for basic services at the local level amid concern that basic services were being neglected due to bureaucracy.
City residents recently took the council to court over its failure to remit the 25 percent of rates kept as ward retention funds to all its wards.
The ward retention fund is meant to cater for locally identified developmental projects that will not be prioritised in the capital budgets for a local authority.
Speaking during a full council meeting held late Thursday, Ward 41 Councillor Kudzai Kadzombe said a ward retention fund was necessary.
“Since 2019 to date, nothing has been done to fund retention and I have never used that. “It ended up with some of the residents in the ward building a standard office for me. We need to ensure that district officers and regional managers are given financial power to use retention funds into ward-level development,” she said.
Ward 16 councillor Denford Ngadziore, also raised a motion rejecting free parking for MPs saying other deserving people in city communities should be prioritised. He also rejected the prioritisation of motorbike loans for councillors.
“This should not be our priority,” he said.
