Councillors training to end to clashes

The Minister of Local Government Urban and Rural Development, Dr Ignatious
Chombo, said problems between councillors and other officials had prompted him to organise the course.

“The unnecessary clashes between councillors and some officials within local
authorities, which are evidently due to ignorance regarding their roles, was
the sole reason I called for an induction workshop to be held,” he said.

He also bemoaned the unprofessional conduct of some councillors in local authorities who are demanding allowances. “This is a clear violation of the law and I strongly urge them to refrain from the act,” he said.

The Chairperson of the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe, Francis Duri, said that comprehensive courses on the roles, responsibilities and parameters within which the councillors are expected to operate would be discussed.

Duri echoed Chombo’s sentiments and said councillors were representatives of the people and should make sure that grievances of ratepayers were addressed by the city fathers.

Meanwhile, Chombo urged local authorities to come up with reasonable and affordable budget proposals, adding that unjustifiable budgets would not be considered. “These are tough times for the rate payers so I strongly urge councils to take that into consideration when coming up with budget proposals and some of the budgets that I have seen are too much for an ordinary Zimbabwean.”