Substantive heads important in service delivery provision
EDITOR — During a Special Council Meeting held at Town House on March 22, 2017, the city fathers agreed to appoint substantive directors for positions which have gone for long with acting heads.
The following departments now have substantive directors (Director of Water— Engineer Hosiah Chisango, Director of Housing — Edmore Nhekairo (from Municipality of Marondera) and Director of Finance — Tendai Kwenda.
From the perspective of the Harare Residents Trust (HRT), the appointment of substantive heads of departments enforces a sense of responsibility and accountability to the one holding the position.
A substantive head will have a clear mandate as indicated in his or her terms of reference. This gives one the impetus to perform to achieve set targets as indicated in the terms of reference.
Therefore, one will be aware that measurement shall be against set key result areas unlike a situation where one is acting.
A person who is in an acting capacity is vulnerable to manipulation by greedy policymakers and cannot make important decisions. Indeed, being in an acting capacity for long does not bode well for efficient and effective performance.
The issue of the acting town clerk has long gone without being resolved.
From the residents’ point of view, if a person has a substantive position they tend to perform effectively and efficiently as they will focus on one assignment than to constantly worry about their future in that position.
Efforts have been put with the Harare City Council sometime in 2015 when they declared a vacancy in the Office of the Town Clerk through a Council Resolution made on December 11, 2015, following a recommendation from the Human Resources Committee on December 1, 2015.
From the interviews conducted, James Mushore was outstanding and was put in the Office of the Town Clerk under controversial circumstances as there were sharp divisions among the councillors over the administrative process of submitting the names of top recommended candidates to the Local Government Board.
Mushore’s appointment had not gone through the Local Government Board, and it was quashed by the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Saviour Kasukuwere who directed Council to follow due process as provided in the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29.15). Mushore has turned to the courts for redress. Residents have noted that the political interference has planted a costly monster around the functioning of the city council. The city fathers now devote their time and energy in the media and in the courts.
There are no noticeable efforts to address the deteriorating service delivery.
With the appointment of the substantive directors, residents await to see an improvement in terms of housing delivery, which has become a topical issue in the city.
Housing delivery has given birth to land barons who seek to drain money from the poor residents, allocating stands at undesignated areas, including wetlands.
This has also brought a threat to wetlands as many residential and commercial stands have been allocated on wetlands. There is need for redress on these matters as they have left many residents vulnerable to environmental risks.
The current billing system of the council is erratic. The council has claimed that with the coming in of the BIQ System, there will be ease of doing business. But from the residents’ side, no significant changes have been experienced.
Instead, the system is causing residents to be charged more than provided for in the City’s budget. The residents expect the Director of Water to address the matter.