Hwange Local Board finally gets it right

Government has finally approved Hwange Local Board (HLB)’s revised ZiG18, 5 million budget for 2024, which had initially been rejected.

The HLB budget and that of Harare City Council were rejected by Government, which asked the two local authorities to revise their budgets, to address a number of issues.

The country has 92 local authorities made up of 32 urban councils and 60 rural district councils.

Government has over the years expressed concern over a number of grey areas and compliance issues during councils’ budget making process. In some cases, councils submitted budgets late and also failed to implement recommendations from the Auditor General and Parliament.

Following the approval of the HLB budget, the local authority may win back the residents’ trust.

The residents said recently, they had lost faith in the council leadership, which they accused of not being pro-service delivery resulting in some people boycotting paying bills and rates.

They also accused the HLB management of ignoring submissions by residents, saying issues raised by Government could have been avoided had the council listened to its stakeholders.

In a recent public update, HLB management said: “Hwange Local Board budget has been approved. The budget is ZiG18, 5 million.”

The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works has said Government will continue capacitating local authorities with knowledge on how to comply with Government requirements.

In many instances, the Government has dispatched teams to train local authority officials on various aspects of local governance, especially at a time when the Second Republic is implementing the Whole of Government Approach.

The bottom line is to build a good base for local authorities to move towards an upper middle income society by 2030.

HLB administers the eastern side of Hwange town, mainly Baobab, Empumalanga and Chibondo areas, although the composition of its councillors includes those representing concession areas managed by Hwange Colliery Company, Zimbabwe Power Company and the National Railways of Zimbabwe.

Hwange residents have implored the Government to speed up the incorporation of concession wards and that water management be solely managed by HLB.

The local authority is one of the four local boards in Matabeleland North, including Lupane, as well as newly established Binga and Tsholotsho. Victoria Falls City Council is the only urban council in the province. — @ncubeleon