TellZim Reporter
The people of ward 3 in Chivi district have been urged to pay their annual levies if they want their area to develop.
This was said during an engagement meeting organised by TellZim News in partnership with Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) where the local authority Chivi Rural District Council (RDC) met village heads to discuss developmental issues affecting the area.
Chivi RDC chairperson Godfrey Mukungunugwa said people should know that the levy is used to develop local communities contrary to what many think that the money is abused by leaders.
“Levy is our money which is used develops our area. Don’t think the money is abused by us because we have big bellies. We were born like this and it’s not your money. So please pay up the levies so that we sink boreholes and construct roads in this area,” said Mukungunugwa.
Local councillor Lazarus Mauto urged people to pay their levies in numbers saying that determines how development fund disbursements are done by the local authority.
He said the levy registers are also used by various departments who bring aid in the villages when they determine the number of households in each village.
“What determines ward population is the levy registers. The social welfare department and other Non-Governmental Organizations come to council when they want to deal with communities and council simply use the registers to determine the number of households in each area. So if you don’t pay, they will allocate few resources to you.
“If you pay, it becomes easier for us and the council chairperson who is here present to lobby for developmental projects in our areas because you will be paying,” said Mauto.
Chivi RDC Human Resources and Administration Officer Archibald Ncube echoed the same sentiments saying development levy was just a tax used to develop own areas.
“Development levy is simply a tax we pay for using the land we are in but government doesn’t take the money for any other use, it sends back the money to develop the area where it came from that is why we have a grader in ward 3. So I want to urge you village heads to encourage your people to pay this levy because it will come back to develop ward 3. Look, we constructed this clinic, the grader is here and we bought fuel using that levy,” said Ncube.
He went on to urge the local community to clear areas where the road is being constructed saying that makes it easier for the grading and shorten the time it takes to complete the road.
