New law to set minimum qualifications for councill...

New law to set minimum qualifications for councillors

Zim Now Writer

Government is working on a new law that will bar politicians without tertiary educational qualifications from running for local authority seats in a development meant to restore competency and improve service delivery.

The Attorney-General’s office is drafting amendments to the Rural Districts Council Act, which seeks, among other things, to fix qualifications for those running for council office.

The amendments are expected to provide regulations for suspension and removal of councillors from office and procedures for the appointment and operations of independent tribunals.

They will also set guidelines for the incorporation of junior councillors into development programmes under the local authorities.

Cabinet adopted principles to the Bill in March last year.

Local Government and Public Works Minister July Moyo said: “We sent the principles to the AG’s office and once a draft Bill is completed, it will be sent to Cabinet. In terms of councillors’ qualifications, the main aim was to ensure that councillors have minimum qualifications, for example, having a tertiary education qualification.

“So, once the draft Bill is done, it will spell out exactly what the minimum qualification will be. We have counterparts who think the process of selecting a councillor is a popularity contest. However, we view it is a governance issue, one which affects a lot of issues — ranging from the provision of sanitation, creating an attractive business environment to attracting international investment. So, we believe that individuals running a city, town or even a rural district must be capable and have requisite skills and knowledge.”

Moyo indicated though that the new regulations will not be ready for the harmonised elections, due sometime in July or August this year.

“Given the limited time that we have before the harmonised elections, I cannot guarantee that these provisions will be used during this year’s elections. We want to appeal to political parties, as we go into the elections, and say these councils are critical institutions and some of them have budgets that are bigger than those appropriated to ministries. Running these councils is like running a ‘country’, therefore, they need to be run by people of higher intellectual calibre than what we have now.”

Moyo gave Harare as an example of how unqualified councillors can easily run down a city.

“We have been witnessing some businesses relocating from Harare’s central business district because of the prevalence of illegal activities in the CBD. This is actually breaking down the CBD, which will be costly to revive.”

Currently, there is no law that fixes the minimum qualifications required for one to be able to run for local government positions.