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Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
NEWLY appointed Beitbridge Rural District Council Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Kiliboni Mbedzi has called on development partners and stakeholders to collaborate and monitor projects to ensure improved service delivery in the district.
She highlighted that collaborations and monitoring are crucial elements to ensuring that key developmental projects are implemented effectively and efficiently.
This, Mrs Mbedzi added, will ultimately result in improved lives of residents in Beitbridge.
She made the remarks while being introduced to the full council by Beitbridge RDC chairman, Councillor Oscar Chiromo, on Tuesday.
“Without proper monitoring, resources may not be utilized effectively, resulting in wasted time and money and inadequate monitoring can lead to poor project outcomes, which can negatively impact the community,” said Mrs Mbedzi.
“As the new CEO, my vision is to see improved livelihoods in our rural community and we can only achieve that if we work together with one vision.
“There is a need for us as the local authority to continue on the path of consulting, collaborating, networking and team work with other development agencies and the end user of our services who are the community of Beitbridge”.
She said there are a number of outstanding projects around the district being implemented by various partners including the Central Government.
Mrs Mbedzi said these are at various implementation stages whose completion can only be successful with development partners, stakeholders, and residents pooling resources together.
“Working in isolation is detrimental to development. As a local authority it is important to sustain good relationships all round with the investors, clients, Government Agencies and any other person who has the same vision to see rural transformation within Beitbridge district,” she said.
The officials said the Government had come up with a lot of blueprints which can only be effective when all hands are put on the deck.
She said the regular coordinated monitoring of projects can help identify areas of improvement and ensure that projects are on track.
Mrs Mbedzi also highlighted that evaluation of a project’s impact will go a long way in determining whether they (projects) are achieving their intended objectives.
“By working together and monitoring projects, the Beitbridge RDC can ensure that development initiatives are effective and sustainable, ultimately improving the lives of residents,” she said.
“We need to align our work plans with the National Development Strategies 1 and 2, the envisaged vision 2030 and the Call to Action and ease of doing business concepts”.
Mrs Mbedzi said the district was rich in natural resources, which should be fully utilised to improve the council’s revenue streams that may translate in them offering people-centred services.
“Having various revenue sources can help us run a viable local authority,” she emphasised.
Mrs Mbedzi, who is a former District Development Coordinator for Beitbridge and Gwanda assumed official duty on Tuesday, replacing who resigned from the local authority in October last year.
Since then the head of Administration and Human Resources, Mr Peter Ncube has been acting in that capacity.
Prior to her latest appointment had worked as the former Environmental and Community Liaison officer at the Zimborders Consortium, which transformed the Beitbridge Border Post in partnership with the Government at a cost of US$300 million.
Online Reporter