8 September 2007
editorial
Ndola — THE euphoria to elect new mayors is on and the importance of having quality civic leadership in all Zambian communities cannot be over-emphasised.
The development the Central Government desires to bring at all levels of Zambian life can only be achieved if there is a vibrant leadership at local government level, where decisions have an immediate impact on the life of the various communities.
It is, therefore, important for councillors to reflect seriously before each election of mayors, deputies or council secretaries at city councils and municipalities around the country.
It is unfortunate that more often than not, each time there are elections of civic authorities fathers, they are characterised by finger-pointing, character assassination and voting along partisan political party lines.
In our view, it does not really matter which political party candidates for mayor or council chairperson hails from.
What matters is their dedication, seriousness and the zeal to work that the individuals bring to their civic duties and their ability to lead other councillors diligently.
They should also be people who are able to foster a productive liaison between elected councillors and council chief officers to ensure development flourishes.
The tasks for any councils in Zambia are enormous: almost every road needs repairs and, for rural councils, feeder roads are almost non-existent, structures like stadia and parks have fallen apart and so have almost all services that are supposed to be the preserve of councils.
In many districts, including Lusaka, the councils appear to have long given up on their responsibility of providing services for which they collect service charges.
Residents make do with minimum service and simply go about building or operating various forms of business largely unattended to by their councils.
The communities look to councils to deliver and not to go to the chambers to acquire plots of land or promote their political parties at the expense of residents.
One area in which councillors can prove their mettle is in executing the Keep Zambia Clean and Healthy campaign launched by the Government. This is a campaign that does not require tremendous amounts of financial resources to implement.
Those being elected as mayors and council chairmen have an opportunity to prove that they are up to the task.
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