…urgent need for training, reorientation
By Brighton Chiseva
ZAKA – The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works has rendered the whole of Zaka Rural District Council (RDC) clueless following an investigation conducted by the ministry at the local authority.
A crippling knowledge gap among district leaders was identified as the major obstacle to development, with the ministry recommending urgent training and reorientation for councilors, management, chiefs, and the District Development Coordinator (DDC), as they lack understanding of their roles.
Ministry of Local Government and Public Works deputy director of development Cephas Mudavanhu revealed this at a full council meeting at the local authority while presenting findings of investigations carried out by the team from the ministry.
Embattled Zaka RDC Council Chairperson Fungai Maregedze had earlier written to the ministry accusing council management of being a stumbling block to development in the district, which prompted the investigations.
Speaking during the meeting Mudavanhu said the councilors and management needed to be capacitated so that they know their respective responsibilities.
He said training of committee chairpersons was a matter of urgency as they were supposed to be capacitated so that they know their mandate.
“There is need for training of all committee chairpersons immediately to catch up with the task of their duties as chairpersons. You were not born chairpersons, you were elected councilors but to be chairpersons you need training because you were breaking laws in committee meetings, so you need to be trained.
“There are resolutions that you made that broke the law and we asked the minister to rescind them especially when you arbitrarily reduced transport and housing allowances for management; go and address that,” said Mudavanhu.
He went on to say the traditional leaders also needed to be oriented on what their roles in council business are, especially when they attend full council meetings. Council management was also berated for its shortfalls in record keeping and writing and distribution of meeting minutes.
“Chiefs need to be trained so that they know their roles when they come to council meetings. Management needs to be capacitated especially on recording and keeping minutes. They are delaying in sending minutes and at times they would only send them a day before the next meeting,” said Mudavanhu.
He further said there was need for a nationwide training for DDCs, adding that in Zaka there was no trio-meeting between the council chair, Chief Executive Officer and the DDC.
“The ministry should contact refresher courses for DDCs across the board looking at issues of call-to-action and service delivery.
“There were no trio meetings where the CEO, DDC and council chair meet. Those three should regularly meet to discuss the running of the district. The DDC speaking on government position, chair on council business and council CEO on implementation,” said Mudavanhu.
“We looked at issues of call-to-action and service delivery and realize that you must drill more boreholes here. We saw you have challenges with your rig, but you have to do more, that is what is meant by call-to-action.
“Zaka RDC has 44 councilors but we discovered that the local authority has only two vehicles. With your number, you have only two cars. Something needs to be done,” he said.
The full council meeting had initially been scheduled for October 28 but was postponed after Council Chair Maregedze wrote a letter through her lawyers arguing that only she had the power to call for a meeting despite her being on bail.
Maregedze was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) on several charges including abuse of power.
Council vice chairperson Svinurai Dawn Chivore however convened another meeting held on Thursday November 7 despite efforts by Maregedze to stop the meeting.
Maregedze boycotted the meeting allegedly without explanation and Chivore chaired the meeting and was instructed by Ministry officials to make sure that their recommendations were met.
The majority of local authorities in the country have been found wanting by the Office of the Auditor General, with many lacking basic policies, systems and procedures for the proper running of the entities.
