GOVERNMENT is unimpressed with some local authorities
sitting on devolution funds which are supposed to fund development projects
meant to improve the people’s lives.
Nkayi Rural District Council (RDC) in Matabeleland North
province is one such council which has failed to deliver as expected despite
receiving devolution funds.
The council received $7 million between December and July
this year but $2 million has not been used and concerns have been raised that
the money is losing value while development is stalling.
The principle of devolution is spelt out in the
Constitution that was adopted in 2013, although its implementation began in
earnest with the coming in of the Second Republic under President Mnangagwa.
This year, the Government has set aside $2,9 billion for
local authorities, although disbursement was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Treasury has so far released approximately $290 million to local authorities.
Government allocated the funds to be shared among the 10
provinces based on a number of factors such as poverty levels, quality of
infrastructure and the population.
The devolution programme is meant to drive individual
provinces to develop critical infrastructure that can create a conducive
environment for economic empowerment of local communities and increase the
contribution to national development.
Provinces decide the projects to be implemented guided by
the need to maximise on exploitation of local resources.
Local Government and Public Works Deputy Minister Marian
Chombo on Thursday and Friday toured Nkayi to assess the implementation of
devolution projects in the area.
Five percent of the national budget is released to local
authorities so that they implement devolution projects.
Nkayi RDC was expected to build two clinics and drill a
borehole to benefit the community but instead the council drilled the borehole
inside its offices depriving the community of access to water.
The clinic construction projects are just starting.
Deputy Minister Chombo said councils should implement
projects as soon as they receive funds and Government was not happy with
progress on Nkayi projects.
“Right now, in Nkayi we discovered that there is money that
was allocated by Government and has not been used. It is losing value each and
every day so we are urging the local authorities to use the devolution.
funds expeditiously. They got about $7 million some of it
they got it last year in December and the second disbursement was in July,”
said Deputy Minister Chombo.
“We went on a tour of the projects that are being
undertaken and we are not happy because most of the projects were started two
months ago and they still have a lot of money that they haven’t utilised. They
have about $2 million still sitting in the bank and is losing value. We are not
happy at the rate they are utilising the money.”
She said as a result Nkayi will not be receiving funds from
Government until they utilise and account for already disbursed money.
Deputy Minister Chombo said devolution funds should be used
for the benefit of communities in line with Government’s thrust of providing services.
“Right now, we have the five percent devolution funds that
we are hoping they will use to address the problems on service delivery such as
provision of water, health care and other such services. We are therefore
urging the local authorities to use the funds they are given to implement these
people’s projects,”said Deputy Minister Chombo.
The tour was also attended by Ministry of Local Government
and Public Works chief director responsible for rural local authorities Mr
Christopher Shumba.
Mr Shumba said several local authorities in Matabeleland
North were dragging their feet when it comes to implementing of devolution
projects.
He said soon the Ministry will be visiting Umguza RDC and
Kusile RDC.
“There is dragging of feet by many councils and this
council is one of them. The local MPs were the first to complain, they don’t
think that what is coming to Nkayi is being used properly. They are not happy
and when we met councillors, they were equally not happy,” he said.
“If they (council) don’t use money on time they will have
serious problems because when we gave them the money, they indicated that they
had budgeted for it, procurement processes had already been done. Our visit to
councils is meant to assess how funds are being used guided by the specific
list of projects submitted by the respective councils.”
Mr Shumba said the ministry will religiously follow
councils to ensure that they implement devolution projects.
“Government officials who attend council meetings are meant
to monitor council activities and report back to Government because councils
are receiving funds from Government. Government naturally has an interest in
councils and wants to ensure funds are accounted for and projects move with the
kind of speed that Government is expecting. We don’t want any single council to
lag behind,” said Mr Shumba. Chronicle
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