Vusumuzi Dube
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has launched the local authorities blueprint on service delivery which is expected to drive towards the attainment of Vision 20230.
Named ‘A call to action- no compromise to service delivery: first stage of interventions to modernise the operations of local authorities towards a 2030 vision’, the blueprint was launched at the local authorities’ interaction, which was hosted by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works on Wednesday.
Launching the blueprint, President Mnangagwa said while an upper middle-income economy is defined by the income per capita, the quality-of-service provision by local authorities should be in line with a standard upper middle income economy.
“An integrated approach and programme is thus being put in place to ensure that all local authorities deliver a service in sync with an upper middle income economy. An urgent and immediate requirement is for all local authorities to achieve acceptable service delivery levels and observe all applicable laws
“Government will come up with minimum service delivery levels to be achieved by all local authorities. What is not planned for will not be executed,” he said.
The blueprint presents various areas which are of concern to Government and these include revenue collection and distribution, compliance with applicable laws, leasing and selling of land by local authorities in servitudes, leasing and selling of communal and agriculture land by local authorities as well as valuation of properties for rating purpose.
The blueprint also seeks to mordenise and renew local authorities through a two-fold approach.
“The modernisation and renewal of Local Authorities is to be in a two-fold approach, firstly the implementation and/or improvement in corporate governance, organisational capacity and systems to lay a base for a modernisation and renewal program. This will be the first stage of intervention, and is the subject of this paper
“Secondly, it will be the designing and implementation of a plan for each local authority to achieve renewal and modernisation to a level consistent with a 2030 upper Middle income economy. This exercise will be subject of a second stage of interventions,” said President Mnangagwa
He said the first stage of policy intervention will see his Government introducing a raft of measures which include annual budgets, performance measurement, establishment of minimum service delivery levels, local authority business interests through Special Purpose Vehicles, financial reporting and governance in local authorities, development and implementation of master plans by local authorities amongst others.
To enable immediate implementation of the measures, President Mnangagwa directed the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works to work with the Public Service Commission and Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development.
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