Graft reigns supreme in local authorities, says Mi...

Graft reigns supreme in local authorities, says Minister Garwe

Zim Now Writer

Local Government and Public Works Minister, Daniel Garwe has singled out corruption as the most prevalent problem within local authorities, leading to poor service delivery, noting that most of the councils have even failed to produce budgets, with urban councils the worst affected.

The minister made these statements while responding to National Assembly member, Benjamin Musweweshiri, who had questioned the underperformance of most local authorities, especially urban councils.

In his response, the minister said corruption was of major concern in local authorities, leading to poor service delivery as well as failure to produce proper budgets.

He also added that devolution funds have been availed and channelled to provinces for the purposes of improved service delivery but he was disappointed that most of the councils still underperform.

The minister singled out Harare City Council as the most corrupt among other local authorities, noting that it has failed to produce a budget.

“The councils that are failing to provide water are domiciled in urban areas and the reason why they are not providing water is not because they are not capacitated, but there are several reasons.

“One of those reasons is corruption. Let me repeat, the level of corruption in the local authorities, especially in the urban areas is astronomical.

“Some of the local authorities have even failed to produce budgets. They have failed to give us budgets and as we speak, a clear example is Harare City Council. They have failed to prepare a budget. This is the level of incompetence within these local authorities,” minister Garwe said.