By Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI- Chiredzi Town Council management and councilors clashed during the 50th Ordinary Full Council Meeting after the Audit Committee unearthed several irregularities, with councilors demanding an explanation.
The committee reported that contract workers were paid using borrowed funds from the water and rates account instead of the ZINARA account without the signature of the Town Secretary.
Councilors fumed over an unnamed Head of Department (HOD) but most likely the Finance Director, Lloyd Chimusasa for paying contract workers using the wrong account.
Consider Kubiku, who was the Deputy Director of Works is currently acting as the Town Secretary though he is fourth-in-command in hierarchy at the local authority.
Giving her presentation during the meeting, Audit Committee Chairperson, Sekai Njanjure said the committee noted an anomaly where there was a mismatch of payment vouchers and the pay sheet as well as that contract workers were paid without the signature of the Town Secretary, with funds borrowed from the water and rates account instead of ZINARA account.
Ward 5 councilor, Philimon Muchaendepi highlighted that there was need to empower the internal auditor, Owen Gwasira, with power to do his job diligently without fear of his immediate bosses whom he could not command to write reports of the anomalies he would uncover other than informing them not to repeat the same mistakes in future.
“I think we need to empower the internal auditor with power to do his job diligently without fear of his superiors. He can’t even order them to write reports of anomalies he would have detected,” said Muchaendepi.
Council Vice Chairperson and Ward 1 councilor, Liberty Macharaga said there was need for the HOD in question to write a report of what transpired rather than pampering him.
“Though we need to empower him (Internal Auditor), as council, we are the bosses so we want a report of the anomaly which was detected by the internal auditor,” said Macharaga.
Chiredzi Town Council Chairperson, Jameson Charumbira also suggested that they need to find out what happened and charge those who processed payments without including the Town Secretary’s signature.
“We need to charge these HODs who processed payments without the Town Secretary’s as stipulated by law. There is no need for a resolution, it was purely an administrative duty which needs the offender to clearly highlight in the report of what transpired,” said Charumbira.
The matter was later referred back to the Audit Committee to make an investigation on what was going on.
This comes just after the suspension of Chiredzi Town Secretary, Engineer Wesley Kauma and seizure of his Toyota Fortuner over unpublicized reasons emanating from a Ministry of Local Government investigation.

By Beverly Bizeki

Community Based Organisations (CBOs) in Masvingo Province have called upon responsible authorities to provide flexible conditions for local authority and national budget consultations to ensure citizen participation in Public Finance Management value chain processes.
Speaking during a training workshop hosted by Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) in partnership with TellZim News in Masvingo recently, CBOs raised concerns over the way budget consultations were being conducted, which they said restricted citizen participation.
An attendee at the meeting, Sungano Zvarebganashe said the meetings were poorly attended and this was due to limiting conditions set for the meetings.
“Masvingo Province has seven districts but parliament had only set aside two meetings for the province combining people from rural and urban areas. Most people cannot travel to the set venues due to long distances, only those close to the venues will be able to attend. Some folks in the rural areas are not aware that such processes exist yet they are key stakeholders in budget formulations. “Responsible authorities must work on providing room for people to attend and submit their views in terms of the budget consultations,” said Zvarebganashe.
Another attendee, Purazeni Jakata said there was need for both government and parliament to be sensitive when selecting timelines for consultations, which he said contributed to apathy in people’s participation in budget processes.
“Local authority budget consultations in Masvingo are clashing with the Agricultural Show dates and a communication has been made to council to provide dates whereby more people can attend to no avail. This is one of the reasons why these meetings are poorly attended. Again, almost 97 percent of people’s inputs are not reflected in the budget which is why people tend to shun participating in budget consultations as it has become just a formality,” said Jakata.
Attendees also called upon local authorities to improve transparency by providing post budget formulation reviews to ensure that residents’ views are taken into consideration.
“People usually complain about local authorities’ pushing their own agendas at the expense of the ratepayers. We have since advocated for local authorities to have post budget formulation reviews before the budget is submitted to the minister but this has not happened, our wish is to have council bringing back reviews to the ratepayers even at ward level,” said one of the participants.
ZIMCODD facilitator Muchanyara Midzi said the training under its project, Strengthening Institutions and People Participation in Public Finance Management (SIPPP) aimed at equipping CBOs with budget analysis, monitoring and tracking skills for influencing the budget cycle for 2024.
“The training session is critical in strengthening the capacity of CBOs and Residents Associations to ensure their meaningful participation in Public Finance Management value chain and improve Public Finance Management outcomes in the health and education sectors,” Midzi said.
ZIMCODD Economic Analyst Zvikomborero Sibanda urged CBOs to employ the use of critical documents in budget monitoring and expenditure tracking.
“In doing budget monitoring and expenditure tracking, CBOs must make use of critical documents in order to be able to check for deviations or leakages against International Frameworks. There is need to gather and analyse critical documents for effective budget tracking ,” said Sibanda.
Zimbabwe’s Public Finance Management often comes under scrutiny, with the country’s corruption perception index placed at 149 out of 180. Corruption, closed procurement systems and delayed fund disbursements have been highlighted as key reasons for the country’s failure in meeting its development targets hence SIPPP’s objective on strengthening the institutions and people’s participation in a bid to ensure that there is transparency and accountability in the use of resources in the public health and education sectors.
Zimbabwe is a signatory to the Abuja Declaration which calls for the country to allocate 15 percent of its national budget towards public health and the Dakar Declaration which states that government should allocate at least 20 percent of its budget towards education but this has not been the case in Zimbabwe hence SIPPP’s objective on the two sectors.

By Brighton Chiseva

MASVINGO –Members of Zanu PF Masvingo District are complaining over former politburo member Minister Dzikamai Mavhaire’s return to the party, with the District Coordinating Committee alleging that proper procedure was not done as they did not recommend his return.
Sources within the party claim that Mavhaire’s readmission into the ruling party was imposed from the Provincial and National executive, against the normal procedure where the district recommends to the Provincial Coordinating Committee which will then recommend to the national executive.
“We were shocked to just see pictures of Mavhaire with the President and the provincial leadership. Protocol was not observed as we at the district are supposed to receive a letter from an appellant who is seeking re-admission. We then recommend or decline. If we accept the appellant we then recommend to the province and then national,” said the source.
Contacted for comment, Masvingo DCC Chairperson Tawanda Dube said Mavhaire was yet to be introduced to the district as his readmission started from the national executive.
“Yes Cde Mavhaire is back in the party but procedurally he is yet to be introduced to us as the district. His admission came from the national executive. However we are happy as a district that he is back,” said Dube.
Zanu PF Masvingo Provincial Chairperson Robson Mavhenyengwa said there was nothing amiss about his admission coming from the national executive, saying his level warranted that.
“Cde Mavhaire was a politburo member and that is why his admission came from the top. It is normal and if the President or any other authority asks us to welcome a returnee then who are we to refuse? Infact he had been a member of Zanu PF and he has just decided to come back home to others,” said Mavhenyengwa.
Other sources said Mavhaire was not comfortable approaching the district executive as he felt that would belittle him, with the likelihood of his appeal being blocked, hence he decided to approach the national executive.
“Mavhaire is a threat to many in the province so he saw that the district would mock and block his return considering his proximity to former Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Nelson Chamisa. Many feel threatened by his return, even other provincial executive members,” said a source within the party.
Mavhaire, who last week was paraded at State House in the presence of party leader President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other high-profile party leaders was readmitted into Zanu PF after being expelled from the party by former President Robert Mugabe in 2014.
Until his return, he had become opposition leader Chamisa’s close ally, often speaking at CCC rallies mocking Mnangagwa’s administration.