Chronicle Editor
Munyaradzi Musiiwa, Sunday News Reporter
THE Ministry of Local Government and Public Works is yet to constitute the Local Government Board which is responsible for the hiring and dismissal of senior council officials which has put many local authorities in dilemma.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) is inundated with cases of corruption, mismanagement while most local authorities are being run by inept managers who have failed to improve service delivery despite Government financial support.
A Service Level Benchmarking Exercise report shows that 50 percent of the council management in some local authorities are not qualified for the positions they hold.
The Service Level Benchmarking exercise was conducted in 32 urban local authorities in the country.
Poor service delivery in most local authorities has been attributed to inept top management and corrupt councils which has seen Zacc and other anti-corruption units descending on local authorities to restore sanity.
The Zimbabwe Chemical Society has also attributed the surge in cancer and other chronic diseases in the country to poor water treatment systems in urban council as a result of the absence of qualified people in the water treatment departments.
The Urban Council Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ) has approached President Mnangagwa to have the Local Government Board constituted to enable the council to operate professionally and improve service delivery.
UCAZ president Josiah Makombe said poor service delivery was a cause for concern in many urban local authorities some of which could be attributed to the absence of qualified employees.
“We have approached the Minister of Local Government and Public Works (July Moyo) and this month (December) we met President Mnangagwa and also appealed to him to have the Local Government Board constituted so that we have qualified personnel manning our departments. Some are not qualified, some are not substantive. This has affected the service delivery,” he said.
The urban council have also been accused of attempting to influence the recruitment of senior management in councils and have total control.
Harare City Council was once caught in a nepotism storm after it emerged that councillors in the city could be allegedly seconding their relatives for jobs in various departments, leaving a trail of similar names in the municipality’s employment books.
There was also an alleged uncanny trend of a number of employees, over 100, sharing names with the opposition officials, with indications that the opposition parties may have been unduly interfering in the running of the city.
It has been alleged that recruits of the council may have been seconded by the opposition party as a form of payment as the party failed to raise money to pay its polling agents.
The Government is taking due diligence on the appointment of the members who will constitute the Local Government Board.
Local Government and Public Works Permanent Secretary, Mr Zvinechimwe Churu said the appointment of the Local Government Board was at an advanced stage.
“Government is at any advanced stage in putting in place the board. An announcement will be made once appropriate internal processes have been undertaken,” he said.
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