Gweru (New Ziana) – President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday challenged local authorities to ride on Government’s engagement and re-engagement policy and establish partnerships and twinning arrangements with foreign towns and cities to draw benefits.
In his acceptance speech of the Freedom of the City award bestowed on him, President Mnangagwa said such partnerships would help local authorities attract investment, grow their economies, and improve service delivery.
“Capital goes where it feels safe, hence, I challenge you to improve your ease of doing business environment in line with the national barometer and global best practices,” he said.
“I want to assure you that the Second Republic remains available to exchange progressive ideas towards transforming our cities and the country as a whole. However, it is the local authorities who must live up to their primary mandate of delivering responsive and people centred quality services at the community level,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said the Gweru City Council should leverage on the capabilities and competencies of institutions such as the Midlands State University, Mkoba Teachers College and Gweru Polytechnic College, among other strategic national institutions, to modernize the city.
“Information Communication Technologies and other contemporary strategies must be effectively deployed to accelerate the modernization of the city. The talented young girls and boys at the innovation hubs and industrial parks should be tasked to come up with solutions which enhance service delivery,” he said.
He said due to shortcomings within local authorities to collect and prudently utilize resources of ratepayers, Government was forced to avail financial resources for the improvement of their water and sewer reticulation systems; rehabilitation and development of roads; ICTs; refuse removal and public lighting, among others.
He said it was encouraging that Devolution Funds availed under the Devolution and Decentralization Programme have resulted in beneficial, people centred projects countrywide.
Local authorities, President Mnangagwa said, must always engage residents, and keep dialogue with them open, as opposed to restricting interaction with ratepayers to the budget formulation process.
“As we entrench democracy, participatory governance and private sector-led development in our country, our people’s voice must be heard, and their views taken on board. The welfare of the people of our great country remains paramount,” he said.
He said local authorities must be proactive and scale up efforts to collect revenue and prioritize implementation of programmes and projects.
“The resident and ratepayer of Gweru deserves better and should see value for the rates, fees and charges that they pay,” President Mnangagwa said.
He said planning regulations and by-laws should be transformative in line with the changing socio-economic trends and demographics.
“As our society and cities expand, develop and modernize, it is incumbent upon our local authorities to provide adequate designated industrial zones, factory shells, market areas and stalls for emerging businesses and residents,” he said.
He said Zimbabwe shall be a prosperous and empowered upper middle-income economy by 2030 and “no one and no place will be left behind, including the City of Gweru.”
New Ziana
