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Full Council Meeting report
Harare Residents' Trust (HRT)
June 13, 2011

Executive Summary

The Harare Residents' Trust (HRT) is providing residents of Harare with an update of what happened during a Full Council Meeting held at Town House on Tuesday 31 May 2011. The Full Council meeting is held once every month, tentatively on the last Thursday of each month starting at 4.30pm, in terms of the Urban Councils' Act (Chapter 29:15). This meeting is chaired by the Mayor, and is usually flanked by the Deputy Mayor, the Town Clerk and the Chamber Secretary. The Full Council is meant for all 46 elected councillors of Harare, representing the 46 wards in Harare, the 11 appointed councillors, who represent the Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development, and heads of council's departments, who are expected to be in attendance to respond to issues raised by the councillors pertaining to their departments. On this particular council meeting, 32 elected councillors were in attendance. Residents need to know that six councillors have been dismissed by the Minister of Local Government while two have died. This update will highlight the key decisions made, policies being pursued and other such pertinent developments. The residents in Harare have to be aware of the work of their elected representatives, what they say in council committee meetings and what decisions they have made as a full council, in the name of the residents. It is the responsibility of every elected councillor to provide feedback to the electorate whenever they have held meetings at councils. Citizens have a duty to participate in the affairs of their council if they hope to have excellent services. The City of Harare has the following Standing Committees, which help the council discharge its mandate;

• Finance and Development,
• Environmental Management Committee,
• Human Resources and General Purposes Committee,
• Procurement Board,
• Business Committee
• Education, Health, Housing and Community Services and Licensing Committee,
• Information and Publicity Committee and
• Audit Committee,

These committees have different mandates which have all got to do with serving the interests of Harare residents. In our next update, the HRT will provide the basic mandates of each committee. This new service by the organisation is meant to enhance accountability by the City of Harare, and in the process build institutions of governance that respond to the real expressed issues affecting the community. In our updates, we will highlight the major decisions, policies and other such pertinent issues. Below is the update of major highlights;

Human Resources and General Purpose Committee

City of Harare councillors on Tuesday evening lambasted the Town Clerk and Chamber Secretary for their failure to present the manpower audit report, the council's organogram and the salary schedules of senior management, demanding that Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda stops coming to the defence of senior management whenever issues arose during council meetings. They said that employees of public entities such as council must be open to public scrutiny. The mayor highlighted that these documents will be availed soon to the council. The councilors raised concern about the workers who had resigned during the chaotic year 2008. They are angered by the fact that the workers were allowed to return and get hefty salaries which they said has demotivated the work force that remained behind. The councilors highlighted that the directors of various council departments or works are supposed to be questioned on what they have done for the City ever since 2008. The city councillors have been demanding to see the manpower audit report since 2010 without success. They noted that it is time for council to chop off dead wood that is within council and draining away financial resources for nothing. They have also demanded to have sight of the salary structure of senior management, all without success. Yet again they have demanded to see the organogram of the City of Harare which specifies the command structure of council, again without success. The Harare Residents' Trust (HRT) commends the efforts by the councillors to have unfettered access to all information pertaining to the running of the City of Harare as this promotes accountability, transparency and effectiveness among senior management.

Councillors Demand Explanation on Recalled Employees

In a case of unbridled corruption in the Human Resources Department, bordering on partisan and incompetence, the Human Resources Director of the City of Harare Mr Kainos Chimombe reportedly wrote a letter authorizing the return to work of around 500 city employees who emigrated to neghbouring countries for greener pastures at the height of the economic and social hardships in 2008. The director is said to have gone further to authorize their payment of salaries backdated to the time they left, and even restored them to their positions, heightening the tensions among city employees who feel badly let down by the management. According to disgruntled councillors, the majority of the returning employees were given salaries around US$20 000 from the city coffers, as back pay, while the city is struggling to pay its staff on time. Treasury reports that it is broke.

It was given this background that this matter featured prominently during deliberations of the full council, with councillors demanding to know what exactly was happening in the City, where directors were making policy decisions without involving the policymakers. This and other issues are set for further deliberations when the Human Resources Committee will meet on the 14th of June 2011 at Town House. The manpower audit report is set to be given to the councillors, as well as the organogram and salary structures of the senior management.

Finance and Development Committee

The councilors from the committee said that the City of Harare is contributing much to the road maintenance. Councillors questioned the rationale of the City of Harare paying 50% for road maintenance while central government which collects most of the revenue for vehicle licensing does nothing about the urban roads. The councillors urged the Finance and Development committee to intensify efforts to raise the much needed revenue for service delivery. The councilors felt that the Minister of Local Government Rural and Urban Development must be the one at the forefront of ensuring that local authorities get revenue from Central Government in support grants. The Town Clerk said they would engage the Ministry of Finance and Development about it. He said they were given US$2million under ZINARA. The councillors took turns to castigate the performance of the Finance and Development Committee accusing the committee of incompetence and lacking the seriousness expected of a committee that should be raising funds for the city.

Prices of Residents' Stands

The councilors raised concern about the faulty prizes of council stands in Harare by the City of Harare. It was pointed out that it does not make much sense if stands in high density areas such as Warren Park cost $10.00 per square meter while those in low density areas like Gunhill cost $7.00 per square meter. Councilors said that the Finance and Development committee is exhibiting lack of capacity to prize stands. They said that the prizes for land were exorbitant and unrealistic. Councilors defended their role saying they were elected to safeguard the interests of residents, and not to punish them. The councillors said the cost of stands land should be reduced to address problems of overcrowding in council flats and rented houses which is a characteristic of many high density suburbs. It was also highlighted that those who buy council stands are faced with an additional huge cost of servicing the stands as they are not properly serviced. They also highlighted that most available stands were being bought by business people who will build houses or keep the land idle for speculative purposes. If they decide to build houses, they will resell to the poor at high costs, hindering access to decent accommodation by the majority in Harare, who earn little every month.

Environmental Management Committee

The councilors expressed concern with the lack of resources for services delivery to take place. The councilors from the committee led by Chairman Herbert Gomba (Ward 27) highlighted that the lack of these much needed resources means that the committee cannot do its work well. It was noted that there is need for more trucks for refuse collection to avoid the inconsistency that the residents of Harare have experienced in the suburbs. It was noted that if there are no resources and if they continue to be limited as they are, road repair and maintenance is not possible. It was suggested by councilors that to avoid accidents at major intersections in the City there is need to have solar powered robots. Delta Beverage was recognized much for the donation of bins which were located in suburbs accordingly and they are now being used in the communities and they are going to receive some donation of 300 brooms from.

There was particular attention to the intersection of Bishop Gaul and Samora Machel Avenues with the area Councillor saying the area had become a black spot requiring urgent council action. It was recommended and adopted that the matter be taken to the committee. However the prevailing idea was that the traffic lights be replaced with a roundabout, which rarely causes traffic accidents.

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