By Staff Reporter
Masvingo City Council Town Clerk Edward Mukaratirwa was recently crowned Best Manager for the year 2024 by the Zimbabwe Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC).
Masvingo City Council was also recognized as the Best Customer Centered Organization at the same event and it was all smiles for the city managers led by Mukaratirwa as well as the councilors as they received the awards.
Masvingo Mayor Alec Tabe said they were honored as council to receive such awards and that showed that the council’s efforts were being recognized despite working under difficult conditions owing to economic conditions.
“We are honored to receive such a prestigious award. It marks a milestone terms of how the city is performing in trying to improve service delivery to residents. These efforts are the reason why we are receiving these accolades.
“We try our best to provide basic services like water, for at least eight hours a day and timeous collect refuse. It’s very hard because we are operating in a very difficult environment, we are in a hyperinflation with the currency losing value every day, we however try to offer affordable service to our residents,” said Tabe.
He went on to thank council management and the residents whom he said were supportive which results in the city being recognized for their efforts.
“I want to thank council management, all council employees, and fellow policymakers for the maximum effort they are putting to make sure that the city continue to be recognized. I want to thank all residents and our stakeholders for the support,” said Tabe.
In 2023, Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa won President Emmerson Mnangangwa’s Award for the Best Town Clerk in Zimbabwe, a government recognition for excellent performance in service delivery.
At the 64th edition of Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) held in Bulawayo in April, Masvingo City Council won the Most Innovative Creative Local Authority Award which shows that the city is performing well in terms of providing services to residents.
Masvingo has also seen an improvement in terms of water provision though of late, persistent power cuts have seen reduced flow of water to residential areas and even the Central Business District (CBD).
In 2022, Masvingo City Council hogged the limelight after scooping four accolades at Zimbabwe CEO’s Network Awards held on February 25, 2022 in Harare.
Then Mayor Cllr Collen Maboke was the Outstanding Mayor winner, Town Clerk Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa won the Outstanding Town Clerk, Public Relations Officer Ashleigh Jinjika won as the Outstanding Public Relations Officer and Masvingo City won in the Best Performing Local Authority category.
