(HERALD ZW) Councils loot Zinara funds
January 11, 2014
Senior Reporter
The Zimbabwe National Road Administration has stopped direct disbursements of road maintenance funds to local authorities, alleging that councils were either misappropriating the funds or diverting them elsewhere.
Harare City Council had since accused Zinara of not disbursing funds for road repairs, hence the deplorable state of roads in the capital.
The councils chief engineer (roads) Engineer Jonathan Mutimukulu recently said Zinara only provided US$1,5 million to the local authority and was owed US$5 million.
However, Zinara chief executive Mr Frank Chitukutuku yesterday said they had stopped giving funds directly to local authorities after discovering that road funds were being used for other things.
Zinara has blacklisted seven local authorities for allegedly abusing road maintenance funds.
The blacklisted authorities are Bulilima, Gwanda, Karoi, Marondera, Kariba, Plumtree and Bindura.
Bulilima Rural District Council is accused of misappropriation of funds, while Bindura is said to have failed to meet the prescribed technical standards.
Gwanda, Karoi, Marondera, Kariba and Plumtree urban councils have been blacklisted as the money they were allocated was allegedly used to settle tax dues instead of going to road infrastructure.
It appears all other local authorities are now bearing the brunt of the alleged financial mismanagement of their colleagues.
“Last year we agreed with local authorities, both rural and urban, that distributing money was not giving us value for money because roads were not being repaired,” Mr Chitukutuku said.
He said the authority also looked at the high cost at which local authorities were hiring equipment such as graders, tippers and other earth moving equipment from private companies.
“We discovered that they were hiring the equipment such as graders at exorbitant fees of between US$250 and US$300 per hour. We calculated this and realised that it was better to capacitate our local authorities by buying that equipment for them through the Road Recapitalistion Programme,” he said.
Mr Chitukutuku said since last year, Zinara had acquired 80 graders that were distributed to all the country’s rural district councils.
“As for City of Harare they wanted US$5 million, but we acquired a heavy duty pothole patching vehicle and tippers and other equipment and material amounting to US$1,7 million,” he said.
He said in 2014 under the Road Recapitalisation Programme, all urban councils would get equipment such as graders, tippers and front-end loaders.
“For Harare City we will acquire recyclers, a quarry plant and a pre-mixer. We believe this will make a big impact, which is not just pot hole patching but rehabilitating the city’s roads which have outlived their lifespan,” he said.
Mr Chitukutuku also said when Zinara took over the licencing of vehicles, the system was chaotic but they had since managed to introduce a more effective computerised process.
“The funds collected from vehicle licencing are going towards acquisition of equipment, while money collected from tollgates is dedicated for toll roads. The fuel levy and transit fees are dedicated to the Plumtree-Harare-Mutare Highway project,” he said.
Mr Chitukutuku He said Zinara was collecting licence fees from 575 000 vehicles registered in the authority’s database.
In March last year the then Transport, Communications and Infrastructure Development Minister Cde Nicholas Goche, said road authorities were misusing funds allocated by Zinara and as such infrastructure standards continued to decline.
In January last year Government suspended four Guruve Rural District Council bosses for allegedly swindling Zinara of US$35 000 meant for road maintenance.
In 2012 Zinara collected over US$45 million from tollgates. Figures for 2013 year are yet to be released.
Labels: COUNCILS, FRANK CHITUKUTUKU, HARARE CITY COUNCIL
Read more...
(NEWZIMBABWE) Councils begin US$2bln debt write-off
03/08/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
SOME urban and rural councils have begun implementing a directive by Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo to write off debts accrued by residents between February 2009 and June 2013.
The directive was one of Zanu PF’s campaign platforms in the latter days of the July 31 election race which the party and its leader President Robert Mugabe appear to have won.
Masvingo residents began to see the debt forgiveness in their July bills, while in the Midlands – Gweru City Council, Redcliff and Runde Rural District Councils say they are now auditing their books to effect the relief.
Zanu PF’s rivals said cancelling the debts – including rentals, unit tax, development levy, refuse charges, water and sewer fees – would cripple the councils. But Zanu PF said the debt relief was necessary because councils were charging flat fees for poor service, and pointing to opaque accounting in converting debts from Zimbabwe dollars in 2009 to United States dollars.
Masvingo began cancelling debts last month, and Midlands local authorities appear to be ready to follow suite.
Gweru town clerk Daniel Matawu said: “We have withdrawn all the names of defaulters we had handed over to our debt collectors in an attempt to recover our money that residents owed us in unpaid water bills and rates.
“We will then look into our books to try and do the calculations. Obviously there is a lot of work that needs to be done before we could effect this.”
Elizabeth Gwatipedza, the Redcliff town clerk said in a separate interview: “We will begin work to implement that directive starting from August 5.”
Zanu PF’s predicted landslide victory in the elections will only add pressure on other councils to begin cancelling debts which Chombo said could be as much as US$2 billion combined.
Labels: COUNCILS, DEBT, IGNATIUS CHOMBO
Read more...
MDC-T fires 12 councillors
Saturday, 25 August 2012 00:00
Herald Reporter
The MDC-T national executive met yesterday and resolved to expel 12 councillors from various cities for engaging in corruption. The party’s deputy secretary-general, Mr Tapiwa Mashakada, said this while addressing journalists soon after the meeting yesterday.
“We examined the conduct of our councillors and we have found that 12 of our councillors face immediate expulsion from our party and we would announce the names once we have written to them on the decision,” he said.
The affected councillors are drawn from Harare, Gweru, Kwekwe and Zvishavane. Mr Mashakada said 13 other councillors from various urban and rural councils would be reprimanded for engaging in activities that bring the party into disrepute.
Meanwhile, MDC-T national executive yesterday reaffirmed its position of rejecting offers made by Zanu-PF to amend the draft Constitution.
Speaking at the same Press conference, the party’s spokesperson, Mr Douglas Mwonzora, accused Zanu-PF of originating a completely new draft instead of amendments.
“The major issue that was discussed was the new Constitution and the stance of the national executive was that they would not accept a new draft to be brought to the table,” said Mr Mwonzora. “We had been led to believe that Zanu-PF had a few proposals but what has happened is that they have produced a new document and we cannot accept that.”
Mr Mwonzora said his party’s national executive had urged all parties to take the Copac draft to the second all stakeholders’ conference for consideration. In its proposals Zanu-PF wants the new constitution to outlaw homosexuality and dual citizenship while compelling government bodies and commissions to defend and promote the values of the liberation struggle in their day to day activities.
The revolutionary party also wants the removal of a clause creating a separate prosecuting authority to be removed and maintain the status quo where that responsibility lies in the hands of the Attorney-General, among other issues.
Zanu-PF’s Politburo is expected to meet today to discuss the way forward after its partners resolved that they would not accept any of its proposed amendments. The party’s spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo said his party would make its decision after the Politburo meeting tomorrow.
“I cannot make any comment right now but will do so after tomorrow’s (today) meeting where the way forward will be discussed,” he said.
Labels: COUNCILS, MDC CORRUPTION
Read more...
Councillors get kickbacks from chemical suppliers’
Sunday, 05 August 2012 12:36
Municipal reporter
Some Harare city councillors have been accused of awarding tenders for the supply of water treatment chemicals to shady and incompetent companies that offer them kickbacks.
The allegations surfaced at a stormy full council meeting held at Town House on Friday. The meeting came in the wake of reports that one of the companies contracted to provide water treatment chemicals to the city delivered poisonous sodium cyanide, instead of aluminium sulphate solution, to Harare’s Morton Jaffray Waterworks.
Only the swift reaction of an alert council worker saved the day. Newly appointed Harare special interest councillor Dr Joseph Kanyekanye
queried why the city was importing water treatment chemicals when there are local companies that offer the same products at much cheaper prices.
“There is no need for the importation of chemicals at such a high cost,” he said.
“There are local companies such as Zimphos that also produce the aluminium sulphate at much cheaper rates. From the survey that I did it I have realised that it is cheaper for us to buy chemicals from Zimphos than from all the 37 companies that council has been dealing with.
“It will be a shame if we allow this to go on. It’s also worth mentioning that some of the companies that are ripping council off are linked to politicians or are owned by some former council employees.”
But in a contribution that shocked the house, Warren Park Councillor Julius Musevenzi urged the city fathers to stick with the controversial importation of water treatment chemicals.
“We have to note that the importation of chemicals is not a shame like what Dr Kanyekanye said. It is unfortunate that our colleague joined us very late so he might not be well versed with the issues of procuring chemicals.
“Harare needs clean water but we have dealt many times with Zimphos but they failed to deliver the full supply of the goods. Last year the city ordered 12 000 metric tonnes of granules but they failed to deliver the whole supply, giving us only 5 000 tonnes which was not enough at the time,” said Cllr Musevenzi.
Cllr Musevenzi said although the city would prefer to procure water chemicals from the local companies at a lower price, most of the companies did not have the capacity to meet the demand.
“Most of the companies do not have the capacity to meet the supply that we want. The local companies are not producing to full capacity, that is why we have to prioritise other companies, not fall in crisis of the water chemicals,” he said.
However, in a statement last week Chemplex Corporation, Zimphos’ parent company, dispelled the notion that the company has not capacity to meet Harare water treatment chemical needs.
“The Zimphos alum manufacturing plant in Harare was built specifically for the City of Harare waterworks and has the capacity to produce over 60 000 tonnes per year of liquid aluminium sulphate plus another 12 000 tonnes per year of solid granular aluminium sulphate for other municipalities. This capacity is adequate to meet the City’s full requirements…
“It is unfortunate for the city and the country in general when Harare City Council compromises water treatment by not exploiting readily available capacity at Zimphos which offers competitively priced quality products in preference to expensive imports …,” reads part of the statement.
Commenting on the matter, Harare Residents’ Trust director Mr Precious Shumba noted that councillors do not have the technical expertise needed to decide on the procurement of water treatment chemicals.
“Information we gathered revealed that councillors are not the competent people to procure chemicals and approve tenders. Most of them do not have knowledge of what they will be doing.
“Most tenders in council are approved by councillors in a bid to get kickbacks which, in turn, compromises service delivery,” he said.
Labels: COUNCILS, HARARE CITY COUNCIL, JOSEPH KANYEKANYE, MDC CORRUPTION
Read more...
Government harmonises salaries in councils
By Henry Sinyangwe
Sun 08 July 2012, 13:24 CAT
THE government has harmonised and rationalised salaries and conditions of service for workers in the local government service.
Speaking during the signing ceremony of the collective agreements for unionized workers in councils countrywide in Lusaka on Friday, permanent secretary for the Public Service Management Division Dr Roland Msiska said there was need to harmonize the salaries and conditions of service across the councils' establishments to enable equal pay for equal work so that the workers were motivated.
He said each employee would be entitled to housing, transport, health and funeral allowances.
"Each council shall have the following conditions of service to cater for the life cycle needs of the employees: graded increase as opposed to across the board increases, introduce a comprehensive mandatory health and funeral insurance, consolidate all remuneration allowances into basic salary, retain duty facilitating allowances and move them into recurrent expenditure and maintain housing and transport allowance for the purpose of managing payroll and conditions of service in the entire Local Government Service as a percentage of basic salary," he said.
Dr Msiska said this will be effective after a physical head count is conducted in all the councils to avoid ghost workers.
And Local Government Association of Zambia representative Dan Longwe said the local authorities should ensure improved service delivery following government's decision to look into their plight.
"This may not be the best but it is good as a starting point so I would urge the local authorities to improve service delivery to the communities as government has showed that it is committed to listening to our cries," said Longwe.
Prior to 1996, the councils had one salary structure and their conditions of service were determined centrally through negotiations. However, after 1996, a decision was made that the various councils would use the existing salary structure but were given the mandate to determine their own salaries and conditions of service depending on the capacities of the councils to generate revenue, which led to distortions and low basic pay for the workers.
Labels: COUNCILS, SALARIES
Read more...
COMMENT - This is a blatant example of MDC corruption in action. Just like in Zambia 21 years ago, no matter how corrupt people thought UNIP was, it was incomparable to the corruption of the MMD under Frederick Chiluba. Once you have a neoliberal party that doesn't believe in government because it worships 'free markets', don't expect good governance. In fact, expect abuse of office and official funds.
Mugabe, Sata arrive to Bulawayo council strike
26/04/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
BULAWAYO was in the throes of a major health crisis on Thursday as President Robert Mugabe and his Zambian counterpart Michael Sata arrived for the official opening of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair. A four-day strike by 2,300 council workers over outstanding salaries had paralysed most services.
Mayor Thaba Moyo stepped in to handle the talks with unions late Thursday, but the talks appeared to have failed. Clinics remained closed, burst water pipes had cut supplies to at least four suburbs and rubbish heaps were piling up around the city – all in the middle of the country’s premier business exhibition.
The MDC-T run Bulawayo council has not paid workers for two months, and unions say the February salaries – the last time staff was paid – were slashed by 40 percent without notice.
“I don’t want to call this a strike. People have gathered at the council offices looking for their money. If they pay us now, we will leave here and go to work,” said Moses Mahlangu, the secretary general of the Zimbabwe Urban Councils Workers’ Union.
He added: “What we have had so far are demands for council workers to go back to work. How will they collect rubbish when they are hungry? How do they work hungry?
“The council says there is no money. When your father says he has no money, his actions should show that.
“Now, you have heard that they bought over 20 cars for top management including the mayor, and they are still buying. Council staff is unpaid but people are buying cars.
“We are not asking for luxury. We are talking of students who have been sent back from school because they have not paid fees; we are talking of lodgers who have been thrown out because they can’t pay rent… we are talking about sick people who are sleeping outside in this cold.”
Since Monday, the workers have been gathering everyday on the lawn at the Tower Block building which houses council offices. A bank has threatened to seize the building over a US$5 million debt.
Several suburbs including Paddonhurst, Sunnyside, North End, Tegela and Romney Park have been without water for three days after a water pipe burst.
Garbage was also collecting in several parts of the city centre, mainly the Basch Street Terminus commonly known as Egodini, Lobengula Street and the market place along 5th Avenue between Robert Mugabe Way and George Silundika Street.
Some council officials have accused the workers of using the Trade Fair to “blackmail” and “embarrass” the local authority. Mahlangu rejects the criticism.
“Us being here to ask for our money has nothing to do with the Trade Fair,” he said.
“We get paid on the 21st day of every month. What we have here is akin to a situation where someone who owes you money decides the terms of when you can claim it, and even withholds some of your money and still expects you to be grateful and obedient.”
Mugabe and Sata arrived in the city on Thursday ahead of the official opening of the annual exhibition on Friday.
With nearly 200,000 people expected to visit the Trade Fair grounds by Saturday night, council bosses are desperate to end the work boycott before a full-scale crisis.
Labels: BULAWAYO, COUNCILS, MDC CORRUPTION, ZIMBABWE INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR
Read more...
COMMENT - Not only should the land be returned to her, but the officials who sold her land without her knowledge should go to jail for fraud.
Ndola woman implores governmetnt to probe council over land
By Kabanda Chulu
Tue 10 Apr. 2012, 13:26 CAT
A NDOLA woman has urged the government to urgently investigate corrupt practices by some officers at
Ndola City Council that have grabbed a piece of land from her and illegally allocated it to a Somali national.In her submissions to the Land Audit Committee, which has been gathering information on illegal sale of land, Harriet Simukoko Zimba, stated that
a Somali national, Mohamed Almi Hoor of Atosh Transport, allegedly connived with council officials to grab a piece of land (plot F7/GR2 Mupundu Street) that belongs to her.
"I worked for Zambia Railways for 10 years and when the housing empowerment initiative came into being, I did not benefit from it since I was not a sitting tenant at that time, so the Railways' union pursued the initiative to sell all undeveloped plots to its employees who never benefited from the sale of houses and I was one of those that applied for a plot in Ndola," stated Zimba.
"In July 2002, I was informed that approval to sell plots was made and I received my offer letter dated 2nd August 2002 to buy the plot in question. On 6th August 2002, I paid K4.7 million as full payment and receipt was only issued on 12th December 2003."
She stated that a temporary permit was obtained from the council to allow construction and building plans were submitted and approved.
"I commenced works for the foundation but in April 2002, I received a summons from Shamakamba and Associates, stating that the plot in question was sold to Atoshi Transport in 1997 and was later re-entered in 1998 in Mohamed Almi Hoor, a Somali national," Zimba stated.
"In 2005, as I was waiting for feedback from the Lands Ministry, Mohamed erected a wall fence to show that he has made developments and the information I have got is that some corrupt council officials sold the plot and facilitated issuance of title deeds, yet I am in possession of original title deeds."
She said the matter had dragged on for nine years.
"I have lost time, money and pride to be a Zambian. If what is rightly mine is lost to a foreigner due to a few greedy and corrupt officials, I cannot go to Somalia and be given land, so I request government to look into this matter with urgency," stated Zimba.
Recently, lands minister Wilbur Simuusa warned that corrupt officers involved in illegal land allocation would be handed over to law enforcement agencies once a comprehensive land audit was concluded.
"Once the final report is submitted, punitive action will be taken against perpetrators in accordance with the law. As government, we are concerned about illegal land allocation, and officers found wanting will be prosecuted; so I am appealing to people with information on land corruptly or illegally acquired to assist so that the audit exercise can be accelerated," said Simuusa.
Labels: CORRUPTION, COUNCILS, LAND RIGHTS, NDOLA, NDOLA CITY COUNCIL
Read more...
TIZ calls for thorough probe of Siavonga District Council
By Allan Mulenga
Sat 18 Feb. 2012, 12:01 CAT
TRANSPARENCY International Zambia has urged local government minister Professor Nkandu Luo to ensure that corrupt allegations over Siavonga District Council are thoroughly investigated and the culprits brought to book. In an interview yesterday, Transparency International Zambia executive director Goodwell Lungu said corrupt practices in local authorities hamper service delivery.
"We call on Professor Luo, just as we did to the former local government minister Dr Brian Chituwo, not to narrow the probe to a few councils as the allegations are not confined to UPND-controlled councils alone, but need to be spread to PF and MMD dominated councils as well," he said.
Lungu urged the government to roll out the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Policy to prevent the occurrence of such malpractices.
"TIZ recommends a much broader probe into malpractices in local authorities and we call upon all citizens to report such malpractices to relevant authorities in a bid to root out such bad practices. What has been reported may just be a tip of the iceberg. While this is a worthwhile undertaking, we would like to caution Prof. Luo to handle the matter professionally by avoiding the temptation of pursuing a political agenda which will not help to resolve the problems," said Lungu.
On Thursday, Prof Luo suspended Siavonga district council for allegedly corrupt activities with immediate effect .
Labels: CORRUPTION, COUNCILS, GOODWELL LUNGU, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, NKANDA LUO, SIAVONGA, TIZ
Read more...
Mugabe blasts money-grabbing councilors
04/12/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has told local authorities to concentrate on service delivery instead of spending their time fighting for personal benefits and allowances.
Mugabe told a meeting of the Zimbabwe Local Government Association (Zilga) in Victoria Falls on Saturday that he was concerned about the deplorable state of service delivery in the country’s towns and cities.
“I am not saying councillors should not get appropriate allowances; far from it. They should, however, strive to ensure that they provide good service to citizens,” Mugabe said.
Citing Harare and Chitungwiza, Mugabe said garbage was going uncollected in most towns with little being done to improve other infrastructure such as roads.
“We want clean cities. Bulawayo is much cleaner and better organised than Harare. I recently visited Chitungwiza when some Chinese eye specialists came in and there was garbage and potholes everywhere. This does not attract tourists.
"Don't kill our cities, please. Don't kill our country," he said.
He challenged local authorities to do more to improve the country’s cities, adding they could draw lessons on good urban planning from places such as Singapore, Malaysia and China.
"I wonder if the local government people in Harare have ever thought of planting trees to beautify the city. The trees we have, the jacarandas, were planted by settlers. If you go east to places like Singapore, Malaysia and China, there is careful urban planning," Mugabe said.
Harare also faces a water supply crisis with nearly 250 cases of typhoid have been treated being treated in the city last month.
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace recently warned in a statement that collapsed water and sanitation facilities would cause "more suffering and deaths" as annual rains begin.
Nearly 250 cases of the waterborne disease typhoid have been treated in Harare this month.
The commission urged the government declare the water shortages a national disaster adding emergency funds were needed in areas where people take contaminated water from drains and shallow, makeshift wells.
Labels: CORRUPTION, COUNCILS, ROBERT MUGABE
Read more...
Council budget: Will it improve services?
Thursday, 13 October 2011 00:00
Felex Share Features Writer
ONCE again it is the time of the year when in local government circles, clashes between ratepayers and councils are common as councils come up with draft budgets for the forthcoming year. Local authorities come up with expected expenditure proposals that, however, have to be approved by the parent ministry, Local Government and Urban Development.
Though drafting of council budget is supposed to be smooth sailing as residents and city fathers debate the council expenditure, the period has seen lots of clashes as council budgets estimates fail to conform to acceptable standards of service delivery.
Most council budgets countrywide have been deemed "anti-people" and branded "money-making schemes" that have seen increased cries from resident associations.
Harare, Zimbabwe's capital and by far the most populous city in the land, has witnessed more of the clashes as service delivery has failed to match the rates paid.
It is within this mode that the US$272 million 2012 budget has attracted mixed reactions from the residents with the majority arguing that the council had done well by not increasing rates.
The harsh economic climate was making it difficult for residents to own up and pay rates, leading to the huge amounts of money they owe to council.
Others, however, went ahead to seek a reduction of the current rates to those subsiding in 2010 saying there was no agreement on the rates adjustment effected last year by the city fathers
They argue that despite the pre-budget consultative meetings, Harare's final budget statement was a sharp contradiction to the residents' demands.
The consultative meetings have been blamed for their confusion and limited participation by residents resulting their input being ignored.
Observers say council's decision not to increase tariffs for the first time in many years was most welcome as it "shows that council is beginning to listen ro residents".
However, the big question from residents is: Is that the solution to the service delivery problems facing residents?
Can people really say council is beginning to listen to the demands of the people?
Council argued that by maintaining the existing tariffs, more residents would pay their bills hence boosting the council's revenue levels.
Glen Norah Ward 27 Councillor, Herbert Gomba believes not increasing charges will translate into an increase in revenue levels as residents will find reason to pay.
"The budget deals with the concerns of the people. Residents have always failed to cope with tariffs and this time we have confidence they will pay.
"We also have to take into consideration what people are earning, so I think this is the right direction for the city," he said.
Combined Residents Association director Mr Mufundo Mlilo said while the council would be commended for not increasing tariffs, it had excluded a lot of issues raised during the consultative meetings.
"There is no input from residents. We expected them to address the issue of water but they have failed and what it means is water woes will remain the order of the day because no efforts have been put in place to address the challenges," he said.
He said Government has given a directive for increased funding of water reticulation but there was no deliberate effort to increase water treatment budget despite the announcement that Unicef will be pulling out of the chemical deal next year.
On expected expenditure, salaries continue to gobble the lion's share of the council budget.
The city decided to marginally increase the budget for salaries and allowances from 40 to 41 percent.
This is in defiance of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development's directive that 70 percent of the revenue should be channelled towards service delivery while 30 percent goes to salaries.
The issue of salaries remains a pain as not only the 30 percent threshold is busted but there is also lack of a serious and efficient human resources audit to deal with ghost workers.
Clr Jonathan Tavarwisa criticised the budget, saying it was more of a "salary budget".
About US$112 million, which is 41 percent of the total budget has been earmarked for salaries and allowances.
"We have got many areas that need massive recapitalisation such as Harare quarry, but at the end of the day you see a huge amount of money going towards salaries.
"We have to come up with projects that generate money for the council rather than relying heavily on the ratepayers. If you look at it residents have always failed to finance our budgets and it is obvious they will fail to fund it again this time around," he said.
Under the 2012 budget, council expects to raise US$1 135 million from water and refuse rates.
Observers say council cannot afford to increase the salaries or rates since service delivery was not matching rates.
Mr Claude Katanda said: "While council want residents to fund its budget, the current earnings of the Harare residents, especially civil servants, let alone the informal traders, are already set below the poverty datum line.
"It therefore continues to baffle the mind as to how Harare thinks residents will afford to finance the budget when they are failing to put food on their tables and afford other services such as health, education and even burial."
Harare Residents Trust membership officer Mr Simbarashe Majamanda said the budget was simply a "cut and paste" document from the previous budget.
Mr Majamanda said the static tariffs were not a guarantee for improved services.
"This does not mean that service delivery would improve, probably we are going down the drain because people have a tendency of not paying. Of course rates are increasing but does that mean service delivery will improve?
"Things might actually get worse because they are currently failing to pay," he said.
He said service delivery and infrastructural development should be key in the crafting of the city budget.
Mr Majamanda said some local authorities overlooked such aspects by putting up budgets they cannot fund, resulting in them swindling the ratepayers.
"Local authorities should not embark on projects that are beyond their capacity as that creates problems for ratepayers."
Others said the tariffs remained way ahead of the reach of many.
"They are not going to realise anything because at the present moment people are failing to pay those high charges.
"We are tired of funding their upkeep. It is clear that no one can fund this budget and at the end of the day we are duped of our hard earned cash," said a resident Mr Moses Hungwe.
Urban planner Mr Arnold Matikasi said council should have prioritised road maintenance in next year's budget.
"Potholes are everywhere in Harare and this is where a lot of money should have gone. Let's not wait for the potholes to occur as it would be costly to maintain them," he said.
Great expectations were thrust on the current MDC-T led council by residents who predicted a major shift in service provision, after their experiences with the Commission that ran Harare before the 2008 elections.
To the dismay of residents, the city fathers have failed to deal with thousands of ghost workers who are still on its wage bill.
It seems the war between the city fathers and residents would continue as long as rates and charges are viewed as exorbitant.
But as public service providers, City of Harare and all other local authorities must be cognisant of the socio- economic realities obtained in the country.
Labels: COUNCILS, HARARE CITY COUNCIL, MDC
Read more...
Musenge urges change of government
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Sat 16 July 2011, 13:10 CAT
SANITY at Kitwe City Council will only be restored after the change of government this year, says Mwenya Musenge. In an interview yesterday, Musenge said the
councils had been infiltrated by MMD cadres that were
determined to frustrate the developmental efforts of PF councillors and parliamentarians.Musenge, himself a councillor and Nkana parliamentarian, said the highly politicised MMD-orchestrated allegations that Kitwe mayor Elias Kamanga had abused his office spoke volumes about the unethical manner in which some senior officers at the council were handling matters.
Musenge said the country was in need of a leadership that would clean up the local government system and restore integrity in public and ceremonial offices such as the office of mayor.
He said some management officials in liaison with MMD cadres like Joe Malanji were fighting hard to strip the integrity of the office of mayor by withdrawing his official car and reporting him to the police on allegations that he gave fuel to late president Mwanawasa’s son, Patrick.
Musenge said it was not surprising that Kamanga was being persecuted because there were serious land scams among prominent businessmen and politicians that he (Kamanga) together with other councillors had unearthed.
He said it was undisputed fact that there was mismanagement of land in Kitwe.
“I feel these issues shall only be resolved when there is change of government, when (Michael) Sata takes over as president. The dignity of these mayoral offices has been put into disrepute and it is a shame to President Banda and his colleagues to be dragging such an honourable office into such petty matters. We are not saying corruption should be tolerated but the manner in which the matter has been handled,” Musenge said.
“Why should it take an MMD official to get hold of confidential documents of the council and level all sorts of allegations against the mayor on television? And who gave him those papers? It’s sad that confidential documents that are supposed to be under lock and key are flying all over the council,” Musenge said.
He said council officers were supposed to act professionally because they were technocrats that should guide the council on how to handle the affairs of the city on behalf of the residents.
Labels: CADRES, COUNCILS, MWENYA MUSENGE
Read more...
Karoi embarks on poultry, horticultural projects
Saturday, 25 June 2011 23:52 Agriculture
From Noah Pito in Hurungwe
KAROI Town Council has embarked on poultry and horticultural projects in a bid to widen the revenue base.
Apart from venturing into a 40-hectare seed maize project at its New Forest Farm last year, the council has started a horticultural project that will see a hectare each under vegetables such as rape, onion, cabbage, cucumbers and tomatoes in the coming few weeks.
Land preparation is complete at a site near its New Forest Farm dam and planting of the vegetables is already underway.
The council has also initiated a beekeeping venture near the dam. The horticultural project will target ready markets in Hurungwe, Kariba and Chirundu One-Stop Border Post, while the honey project will target the local community.
At the local authority’s Shambatungwe Farm, a broiler project — which started two months ago — is in full swing with about 2 000 birds averaging 2,2kg in dressed mass, having been so far sold to local hotels, butcheries, takeaways and individuals.
Town secretary Mr Maxwell Kaitano said the local authority is aiming at expanding the broiler project to attain a turnover of 60 000 birds per year.
“We are in the process of constructing proper fowl runs,” he said.
“So far we have been using the improvised tobacco grading sheds to house the birds. After construction of the fowl runs, we are targeting to raise our turnover to 60 000 birds per year. This will be achieved by raising six batches of 10 000 fowls each at a time. In the next cropping season, the council is looking at growing up to 200 hectares of commercial maize, 70 hectares of soya and 20 hectares dry- land tobacco.
Tobacco will be grown at Shambatungwe Farm, where there is adequate infrastructure, while maize and soya will be grown at the New Forest Farm.
Karoi Town Council is operating in partnership with the Urban Development Corporation (Udcorp) and there is a specialist farm manager, Mr Charles Bvukumbwi, who is in charge of all the agricultural projects.-The Sunday Mail
Labels: COUNCILS, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, POULTRY
Read more...
Councillor defends operations of PF-run authorities
By Darious Kapembwa in Kitwe
Tue 26 Apr. 2011, 04:00 CAT
NDOLA’s Itawa ward councillor Menyani Zulu says it is worrying for
senior government officials to exhibit high levels of ignorance on the operations of councils. Zulu was reacting to continuous attacks on PF dominated councils on the Copperbelt by President Rupiah Banda and senior government officials.
“First of all let them be sincere Mbulakulima is a minister in the province that has a poorest road network in the country and he knows that
his government has given the responsibility of maintaining roads to the RDA and not the councils, but his government has deliberately chosen to fool the people that PF-controlled councils are not maintaining roads,” he said.
Zulu said the PF councillors got into councils when the local authorities owed staff huge salary arrears that have since been dismantled.
“Things are moving smoothly because workers are not owed millions like was the case when MMD dominated these councils, let Mbulakulima tell the nation why there is no road from Ndola to Mufulira because the Ndola-Mufulira road is a mess and the Sabina-Mufulira road is something else and he is there cheapening himself and his government on issues that themselves least understand. Luckily, the people of Zambia especially in most urban areas are learned and laugh at such crap,” said Zulu.
“In the case of Ndola City Council, we have improved the operations of the council by employing qualified staff…we have bought vehicles for all directors who previously used to walk and the graders that they claim to be using to grade some township roads were bought by us, what is he talking about, let him and his central government tell the people how much they have misappropriated in the last 20 years which was meant for roads in the nation than talking about things that never exist in councils.”
Labels: COUNCILS, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PF, ROAD DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, ROADS
Read more...
COMMENT - " all councils were agents of the central government through the Ministry of Local Government and Housing. " I would say there is room for decentralization, and it will not happen under the MMD.
Rupiah wants to tarnish PF councils’ image - Katema
By Misheck Wangwe and Kabanda Chulu
Fri 22 Apr. 2011, 04:00 CAT
IT hurts to see that Zambians have a President who propagates lies on the performance of PF-controlled councils, says Dr Joseph Katema.
Commenting on President Rupiah Banda’s remarks that Patriotic Front-controlled councils on the Copperbelt had failed to deliver the much-needed development, Dr Katema, who is Chingola member of parliament, said it was sad that the country had a President who could not take responsibility over the failures of his government.
Dr Katema said President Banda’s government was holding on to money which was meant for developmental programmes such as the rehabilitation of roads to make people feel that PF-controlled councils were not performing.
“We are ready to work and we’ve done what we can within our means. We can’t construct the roads because we don’t have enough money and it’s solely the responsibility of the central government and its line agents, the Road Development Agency (RDA) and the National Road Fund. Rupiah is simply politicking; he wants to tarnish the image of the PF because his government has failed the people,” said Dr Katema.
And Nchanga parliamentarian Wylbur Simuusa said President Banda would not gain political mileage by blaming the PF over lack of development on the Copperbelt.
He said people were already aware that the government had failed to deliver development’ hence they had opted to support the PF.
“Unfortunately, Zambia has a leader who claims to be a president for all but national wealth is distributed in a discriminate manner because he wants people to change their minds and vote for the MMD. These are cheap politics that will not in any way help him to woo the electorate to vote for him,” said Simuusa.
And Roan member of parliament Chishimba Kambwili said councils were failing to meet the needs of people in many ways because President Banda’s government was not releasing enough money for development.
Kambwili said it was not feasible for councils to operate effectively when the government was not providing sufficient funds.
“Rupiah is like a bad carpenter who always blames his tools. If there is no money coming from central government, he should not expect the councils to perform. The budget of Luanshya Municipal Council is K14 billion. To do one kilometre of a road is 2.5 billion.
You should ask Rupiah what he expects us to do to meet all these demands of our people if his Cabinet is holding on to money. Surely our people want us to attend to their needs not politics every time,” he said.
Kambwili said the wisest thing for the electorate to do was to vote out President Banda and his government because he had failed the people.
And Nkana parliamentarian Mwenya Musenge said President Banda’s directive will not sway the minds of voters who have already made their choice.
Musenge described President Banda’s press conference as an embarrassment to the nation because it failed to address issues affecting people on the Copperbelt.
“His (President Banda) decision will have minimal impact because most people have already paid for the houses and the very few with balances have also paid over 80 per cent and it is cheap propaganda to think that over 3,000 people who shall benefit from the write-off will sway the minds of voters on the Copperbelt because they have already decided to do away with MMD,” said Musenge.
“If anything, President Banda has landed himself into trouble because he should also address the plight of former UBZ, CH, Monarch Steel, Mpelembe Properties and many retirees who are suffering and sleeping at Intercity Bus Terminus while waiting for their pensions.
Actually, we expected him to present findings of audit reports because he made similar allegations last year.”
And Kitwe mayor Elias Kamanga has said President Banda’s criticism of PF-led councils on the poor state of the roads is misplaced since the service was withdrawn and given to the RDA.
Kamanga said there was nothing like PF-controlled councils since all councils were agents of the central government through the Ministry of Local Government and Housing.
“Problems affecting councils are the same. In fact, they are worse in MMD-led councils like Kalulushi, Luanshya and Chililabombwe and why criticise councils on the state of roads when this service has been taken over by the RDA and councils just submit work plans?” wondered Kamanga.
Labels: COUNCILS, DECENTRALIZATION, ELIAS KAMANGA, JOSEPH KATEMA, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PF, RUPIAH BANDA, WYLBUR SIMUUSA
Read more...
Kanganja urges councils to improve image
By Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Thu 14 Apr. 2011, 04:01 CAT
SECRETARY to the Cabinet Joshua Kanganja says it is not good to work for an institution which people accuse of being corrupt.
Opening an integrity committee training programme for Luanshya and Kalulushi municipal councils at Moba Hotel in Kitwe yesterday, Dr Kanganja (right) told the newly-sworn in members of the integrity committees to endeavour to build positive images for their respective institutions.
“Your roles are too important to be left to chance. You have an opportunity to change the image of your institutions as far as corruption is concerned because it is not nice to work for an institution which people accuse of being corrupt. You can’t even walk with your head up,” Dr Kanganja said.
He said corruption perceptions made people suffer from low self-esteem and low morale.
He urged integrity committee members to apply themselves with utmost seriousness and zeal in their course of duty.
Dr Kanganja also urged them to be candid in their deliberations as no one will penalise them for speaking the truth.
And Dr Kanganja said Zambians’ aspirations can only be realised if local authorities delivered services efficiently and effectively.
He said it was regrettable that service delivery in local authorities was very poor and that almost everyone knew a long list of matters that councils were not doing right.
“We must be concerned about this unsatisfactory and unacceptable state of affairs. Whilst I fully appreciate that lack of adequate resources is a serious challenge, there are a lot of matters that we are doing wrongly that do not require money,” Dr Kanganja said.
“We must be transparent and accountable in whatever we do. Unless we do this, public confidence in us will be totally lost. We must avoid this.”
Dr Kanganja urged integrity committee members to lead by example and be accountable for their conduct both in their private capacities and at their places of work.
Labels: COUNCILS, JOSHUA KANGANJA, LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Read more...
Autonomy of councils has been usurped, says Lubinda
By Bright Mukwasa
Thu 24 Mar. 2011, 04:01 CAT
THE reintroduction of the Local Govern-ment Service Comm-ission is against the spirit of decentralisation, says Given Lubinda.
In an interview, Lubinda, who is also PF chairperson for local government, said the revamping of the Commission was likely to slow down the process of implementing decentralisation.
"The government adopted the decentralisation plan in 2009 but in the process, we have digressed by establishing a centralised structure through the Local Government Service Commission. You see this is against the spirit of decentralisation and it will give the MMD opportunity to abuse council resources," Lubinda said.
He said the nature of operations of the Commission would demand centralising the operations of the council which was contrary to the tenets of decentralisation. Lubinda complained that the autonomy of the councils had been usurped.
"Councils are now paying allegiance to the government instead of the councillors. Matters of councils are being discussed by ministers in the press,” he said. Lubinda said the government must move quickly in decentralising the operations of the councils if they were to perform.
Lubinda also advised the government to establish a charge similar to the television levy that would compel people to pay for solid waste management. The reintroduction of the Local Government Service Commission is intended to streamline the council’s operations and ensure effectiveness in the local government system.
The government has already appointed commissioners. And Lubinda called on parliamentarians to take advantage of the offer by the Ministry of Tourism to collect a specific number of trees for planting in their constituencies.
Lubinda, who is also Kabwata parliamentarian, said his constituency had embraced the offer and was already aiming at planting 20,000 trees.
Labels: COUNCILS, DECENTRALIZATION, GIVEN LUBINDA, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PF
Read more...
Corrupt councillors face the chop
By: TZG-TSM
Posted: Sunday, October 3, 2010 2:59 am
THE Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development has embarked on a sustained exercise to cleanse local authorities of corruption and abuse of office. At least 10 councillors have been fired so far for corruption and abuse of office.
Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo confirmed to the Sunday Mail newspaper that Government had instituted investigations in all councils that stood accused of corruption and abuse of office.
The minister will appoint a new batch of eight special councillors in Bulawayo.
He castigated councillors in Bulawayo for acting in concert to frustrate the appointment of more professional people as councillors with no voting powers.
The eight are to be appointed to give the elected councillors some experience and guidance in local governance.
Minister Chombo said he was going to choose the eight from a pool of experienced people.
Turning to corruption and abuse of office by councillors and council officials, he said Government was wielding an axe on all corrupt officials as it moves to restore sanity in local authorities.
“Government will not stand aloof while councils go on a corruption rampage. We will do everything in our power to stop all the corruption and abuse of office by the local authorities and promote service delivery,” he said.
“Government will never at any given time allow service delivery to suffer at the expense of the rot that councillors and council officials are entangled in.
"The ministry will revoke all its powers to deal with such elements as we try to get rid of all the bad apples from among our local authorities.
“The corruption and abuse of office is, in most cases, driven by ignorance and arrogance on the part of councillors and some of them have even admitted to that.
"Our investigations are at different stages and we are firing those who deserve to be fired after exhausting our probe.’’
He said his team of investigators would descend on Beitbridge on Tuesday to probe the allegations of corruption and abuse of office after reports that councillors were unashamedly busy parcelling out stands to their relatives on tribal grounds while there seems to be no hint of accountability in the handling of council funds.
In Victoria Falls, the minister said investigations were being held by the permanent secretary’s office and were ongoing after which a course of action would be determined by the outcome, while in Gweru the ministry was carrying out investigations on allegations of corruption and abuse of office that led to the suspension of the Chamber Secretary, Mr Richard Masinire.
He said the ministry had finalised investigations into the Chitungwiza corruption issue that led to the sacking of some of the councillors after they were found on the wrong side of stipulations of the Urban Councils Act while investigations of abuse of council funds were in progress in Chinhoyi.
Minister Chombo added that his office had fired five councillors in Rusape for corruption and had also sacked the illegitimate deputy mayor for Mutare after he was involved in an accident with the mayor’s S-Class that he had taken and went on a joyride.
The car was a complete write-off.
He said the ministry was pursuing councils on the effective implementation of revenue utilisation where councils were ordered to comply with the directive that 70 percent of the revenue should be channelled towards service delivery while 30 percent was to be used for pensions, allowances and wages.
Minister Chombo said it was disturbing that most of the councils were doing the exact opposite as 75 percent of their total revenue went to salaries, allowances and pensions while leaving a paltry 25 percent to service delivery.
“As a result of councils not complying with the Government directive, some chief executive officers were paid US$18 000 per month while council was also paying for a housemaid and a gardener, among other benefits,” he said.
“We are saying it is obscene as that amount is shockingly incomparable regionally. Such salaries, we suggest, should be cut by more than half depending on the capacity of the local authority to pay.’’
He added that the ministry gave a moratorium that all local authorities should not hire as that would further inflate their wage bill and compromise service delivery.
Minister Chombo rebuffed sentiments by Harare Mayor Mr Muchadeyi Masunda who openly declared that he would not heed Government orders to reduce the salary bill, saying he has a tendency of wanting to play the hero and later regret his actions.
“Masunda has a tendency of saying what he wants and regret it later. He is fond of playing the hero.
"The percentage that should be used for salaries, wages and pensions is actually 28 percent, but we have relaxed the 2 percent; we gave them that as a leeway, but they have and still are abusing that,’’ he said.
Labels: CORRUPTION, COUNCILS
Read more...
COMMENT - It is absurd and almost criminal that council employees are not paid on the dot at the end of every month. More than that, it is an open invitation to corruption. How are council workers supposed to pay the bills if they are not paid? Other than getting paid 'on the job'? Councils need to get serious about their financing, and they should receive 50% of national revenues. As it is, Zambians get double taxed by paying PAYE and local levies as well.
Kasama Council workers demand salaries
Thursday, July 29, 2010, 14:16
Some workers at Kasama Municipal Council in Northern Province have complained of non-payment of their salaries for the past four months now. The workers at the Council have threatened to go on strike if management does not pay them their salaries arrears by this month-end.
Some council employees, who preferred to be anonymous, told ZANIS in Kasama yesterday that they
have not received their salaries since March, this year. The workers have since accused Council management of being insensitive to their plight.
They charged that management had deliberately chosen to render a deaf ear to the suffering of workers and their families.
The workers revealed that Council was collecting millions of Kwacha from revenue sources but wondered how the funds were being utilised.
They explained that despite management making promises to pay workers their monies nothing tangible had so far happened.
The workers have since appealed to Government authorities to intervene in the problems that have rocked Kasama Municipal Council.
Efforts to get a comment from Acting Council Town Clerk Victor Kakoma proved futile.
But Kasama Mayor Fidelis Chishoma yesterday also complained that Councillors had not been paid their sitting allowances for meetings that they have had in the last four (4) months.
Mr. Chishoma said the Councillors were entitled to sitting allowances each time they met for council meetings but regretted the non-payment of their dues.
He, however, claimed that Kasama Municipal Council currently did not have adequate funds to pay its workers and Councillors their monies and urged the affected individuals to be patient with the local authority.
[ ZANIS ]
Labels: COUNCILS, KASAMA, SALARIES
Read more...
Kapiri council official denies stealing K47m
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Tue 22 June 2010, 04:00 CAT
SUSPENDED Kapiri Mposhi district council assistant treasurer Joblin Chatepa has denied charges that she embezzled the council funds amounting to K47.1 million.
And ministry of local government and housing has sent senior auditors to carryout audit inspections of books of accounts at Kapiri Mposhi council following reports of embezzlement of funds.
In her exculpatory letter to council secretary Ventrure Kafula dated May 28, 2010, Chatepa said the allegations against her were false.
Chatepa stated that there was no evidence in the council documents to show that she was involved in fraud, forgery and uttering of council financial documents as claimed by Kafula in his suspension letter to her.
“ … you have already made a decision to suspend me without properly verifying what led to the under-bankings when in fact the deputy treasurer, Mary Chileshe Kafula, was fully aware of all the under-bankings during the period stated in your letter to me,” Chatepa stated.
She explained that the deputy treasurer and the acting internal audit assistant Moses Mumba verified and certified correctly all transactions that were carried out within the period in question.
Chatepa expressed surprise that Kafula selectively decided to suspend her instead of waiting and/or suspending Mary Chileshe Kafula who was aware of the transactions and had made it clear that she had normalised the figures for the money collected and used by her.
“… It is on record and close to my attention that Mr Engine Mayosha – former council police – recently complained to the Auditor that the Deputy Treasurer Mrs Mary C. Kafula collected K3, 000,000 and grabbed the receipt book no. 176/08 on 27th January 2009 from him in Mukonchi which he later discovered that the money was not receipted and was not banked anywhere for the council by her that time but it was used by her and the receipt book lost to conceal the deal. Surprisingly, this has been normalised by herself and the internal audit assistant Mr Moses Mumba, yet your office cannot query and suspend those involved up to now,” read the letter.
When contacted, Kapiri Mposhi council secretary Kafula said local government Permanent Secretary Timothy Hakuyu had sent senior auditors to audit the council’s financial reports.
He said the recommendations of the ministry would be availed to the ordinary council meeting and the public on June 26, 2010.
“The audit report done by senior auditors form the Ministry of Local Government and Housing is not yet for public consumption. It would be made public after it is presented before the ordinary council meeting and you have a right to come and attend that meeting if you want. Its open for the public so it will be unwise for me to pre-empt the audit report that’s why am referring all queries to the permanent secretary,” Kafula said.
Meanwhile, UPND Kapiri Mponshi district youth chairperson Sameman Hakalumbwe appealed to the Drug Enforcement Commission, Zambia police and Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the disappearance of K47 million from Kapiri Mponshi Council.
Hakalumbwe appealed to the investigative wings to institute an audit into the accounts of Kapiri Mponshi council covering the period October 2009 to March 2010.
Kafula last month confirmed Chatepa’s suspension pending investigations, saying there was some fraud involving money that was supposed to be paid to casual workers.
Labels: CORRUPTION, COUNCILS, JOBLIN CHATEPA
Read more...
Kang’ombe calls on CCS to settle K9bn land rates debt
By Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Fri 04 June 2010, 04:00 CAT
IT is irresponsible for Chambishi Copper Smelter (CCS) to refuse to pay land rates to Kalulushi Municipal Council, Kitwe’s Riverside ward councillor Christopher Kang’ombe has charged.
In a statement yesterday, Kang’ombe demanded that the K9 billion owed to Kalulushi council must be settled immediately to enable the local authority provide services to residents.
CCS owes Kalulushi Council about K9 billion in unpaid rates and despite being given a 30 per cent rebate, the company has still failed to pay the money thereby hampering the council’s operations especially in service delivery.
“We all know that this local authority has very few sources of income and as such the outstanding K9 billion must be settled immediately,” he stated.
Kang’ombe accused the government of continually passing legislation that not only affected council operations but also undermined the legitimacy and relevance of elected officials.
“The same government is on record to have issued statements that have hampered collection of land rates in most districts and I’m therefore disappointed to learn that the same lack of political will is being exhibited by the same government which must be in the forefront of encouraging the investors to pay their obligations to local councils,” he stated.
He stated that the government’s double standards should be challenged by every well-meaning citizen because if they were allowed to continue, even ordinary Zambians would begin refusing to pay rates.
Kang’ombe stated that most councils on the Copperbelt had no alternative sources of revenue other than mining companies and wondered what would happen if mining companies in other districts stopped remitting rates to respective local authorities.
“The government risks setting a bad precedence of other mining companies asking ‘what is so special about the Chinese investors at the Chambishi Copper Smelter’ who in my opinion must be treated in the same way as other investors,” Kang’ombe stated.
He stated that Zambians had nothing against Chinese investment but problems would arise if people heard that they Chinese investors were refusing to pay land rates.
Kang’ombe urged the government to stop interfering with the operations of councils.
Kang’ombe also urged CCS to start attracting goodwill from Zambians by paying their workers well and ensuring that they meet the country’s legal provisions by paying land rates.
Labels: CHAMBISHI COPPER SMELTER, CHAMBISHI MINE, CHRISTOPHER KANG'OMBE, CORRUPTION, COUNCILS
Read more...
