THE Skills Audit and Development ministry and Harare City Council have signed a pioneering memorandum of understanding (MoU) to conduct the country’s first local authority skills audit aimed at addressing systemic inefficiencies and modernising service delivery.
The move is also expected to reverse decades of declining service delivery and prepare the capital for a knowledge-driven future.
The MoU marks a decisive attempt to address chronic service failure from water shortage and broken roads to stalled infrastructure by rebuilding the city’s human capital from the ground up.
The Skills Audit and Development ministry secretary Rudo Chitiga hailed the political and administrative will of the city, describing the project as a national benchmark.
“This will be a highlight of my career,” she said.
“Harare will become the pilot from which all other local authorities will learn. We are simply asking: what skills are needed to achieve the city’s vision, what do we have and what gaps must we fill?”
Chitiga said the audit would support the city’s masterplan and help to position Harare as a “learning city” capable of continuous professional development and digital-age competence.
“This is a Harare for young people, a Harare for retirees, a Harare that must deliver services in an era of climate change, demographic shifts and rapid technological advancement,” she
said.
Mayor Jacob Mafume said the skills audit was necessary to confront a growing mismatch between qualifications and performance in the city’s 10 000-strong workforce.
“We have engineers but no working traffic lights; water engineers but no water; road engineers but no roads,” Mafume said.
“It is an act of misconduct to claim skills you do not have. We must match the right skills to the right jobs.”
Acting town clerk Phakamile Mabhena Moyo said the exercise would form the basis for coordinated staffing, data-driven workforce planning and long-term organisational productivity.
“This is not just a box-ticking exercise,” Moyo said. “It is the foundation for building a scientific workforce plan that responds to the requirements of Vision 2030 and our masterplan.”