Performance-based competition for councils

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5 years ago admin

Blessings Chidakwa and Sallomy Matare
GOVERNMENT is set to introduce an annual service delivery and performance-based competition for local authorities, which it will use to rank the best and worst performing councils, a Cabinet Minister has revealed.
Government will take a leaf from South Africa in crafting the criteria to be used to measure and rank the councils as part of measures to infuse a culture of offering quality services among local authorities.
Urban councils are likely to be exposed as they are usually in the spotlight, battling poor service delivery which has often resulted in their respective areas battling disease outbreaks.
Addressing Rural District Council Chairpersons’ Indaba in Victoria Falls recently, Finance and Economic Development Minister Prof Mthuli Ncube said competition was healthy for improvement of service delivery.
“We need to make sure that the environment for business is competitive,” he said.
“We will introduce a competition for rural district councils where we will come up with criteria to compete in terms of deliveries and performance.
“We then rank you every year and those who come out best will be given an award. Competition is not just about business, but also about institutions of service delivery such as RDCs.”
Minister Ncube said councils should be well receptive to the needs of their citizens.
“To capacitate the individual, we want to make sure that we deepen the democratic space,” he said.
“We should observe the rule of law and freedom of association.
“We should unite as a people and maintain peace and observe human and public rights, and also make sure that our public institutions are responsive to the needs of citizens and there is broader citizenry participation. That is what is enshrined in our Constitution.”