Government has found itself in a quagmire on how to rectify a situation caused by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) which resulted in Hwange Local Board (HLB) getting 20 councillors despite having five wards within its area of jurisdiction.
The increase in the number of councillors is viewed by the residents of Hwange as an unnecessary burden to the local authority whose revenue collection has been below 35% for the past five years.
The increase in the number of councillors means that the cash-strapped local authority will have to pay allowances for 20 councillors including 14 who are not in its area of jurisdiction.
The councillors are also set to benefit from stands in HLB's area of jurisdiction, something which is in direct contravention of the Urban Councils Act which stipulates that a presiding councillor can only be allocated land in his or her ward.
Local Government and Public Works spokesperson Gabriel Masvora confirmed the development saying the ministry was working to find a solution to the problem.
“We believe the issue is a constitutional matter under the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which created electoral boundaries to allow people residing in those areas to exercise their electoral rights by choosing their representatives during elections.
“The Local Government and Public Works ministry can confirm that HLB has 20 councillors; these include 15 elected councillors and five proportional representatives (women’s quota). Of the 20 councillors, 14 are under concession areas and six fall under the council's area of jurisdiction,” he said.
Masvora said of the six, one is a proportional representative councillor and out of the five women’s quota councillors, four are from the concession areas.
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“Please note that eight of the wards in concession areas are administered by Hwange Colliery Company Limited while the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) are running a ward each.
“As is the norm, the ministry is seized with this and other such matters as it pertains to local governance anywhere across the country. Going forward, the best way is to incorporate the Wards which currently fall under Hwange Colliery and those that fall under ZPC and NRZ to be administratively under HLB. The Local Government and Public Works ministry is however currently engaging stakeholders on the issue,” added Masvora.
