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Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe 63rd AGM and Conference - notable highlights
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
Extracted from The Resident Issue 35
July 15, 2004

The broadside delivered by Minister Ignatius Chombo at the UCAZ 63rd Annual General held in Kariba on the 22nd of June 2004 was more than a mouthful for the 300 delegates that attended the meeting. The Minister affirmed, point blank, that he was in charge and councils needed to play by the rule or they risked unspecified action.

One Town Clerk present at the meeting could not hide his feeling "The Minister read us the riot act" This was after the minister mentioned that town councils were reneging on their duties to the residents and ratepayers of the communities that they served. The Minister expressed concern over the non submission of audited accounts by most of the councils. He noted that Zvishavane was the only local authority that has its accounts up to date, and councils are losing out on a $20bn loan facility set aside for them by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

The Minister also expressed concern over councils' non utilisation of the Road Fund that is being administered by the Zimbabwe National Road Authority. To date, Mutare has only accessed 27% of their first and second quarter allocations, Ruwa 17,6%, Chinhoyi 20%, Kadoma 23%, Kariba 20%, Karoi 15% and Masvingo 22%.

Local authorities called on the Minister to review the payment of council nurses, saying that the exercise was proving to be beyond the means of most local authorities. The Minister acknowledged the concern that was being raised by councils and promised to "put forward" the request made by the councils. The Minister also promised a review of the taxation policies on municipal employees after councils stated that the employees' income was being depleted due to punitive taxes.

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