27 October 2009
editorial
Yesterday, at least four mayors were installed to mark the beginning of the civic year and many more are expected to undergo similar ceremonies within this week.
The ceremonies are happening at a time when confidence among the local authorities is at its lowest ebb and councils have basically become an object of scorn by the public.
It is clear that, at the moment, no council can claim to effectively deliver services be it road maintenance, garbage collection, land delivery or management of public utilities like markets and bus stations.
It is common these days for the council to issue plots without servicing them although applicants pay hefty sums which they say are service fees. Apart from this, scandals abound of illegal plot allocation by councillors and employees.
Garbage collection whether from markets or townships is sluggishly or rarely done and heaps of garbage are found at street corners in many residential areas.
Markets, especially those in cities like Lusaka and Kitwe are filthy and can best be described as disease breeding grounds. This is despite the council and marketeers' associations collecting millions of Kwacha from traders.
The common cry from councils is that they were stripped of sources of revenue in the early 1990s by way of sale of houses, removal of the agency to handle motor vehicle licences and other functions that were privatised.
But the councils cannot continue to cry over spilt milk and the onus is on the city fathers to find innovative ways of raising revenue.
In the late 1990s, a big conference for councils was held whose main objective was to come up with ways of financing local government. A big document called strategic plan on financing local government was drawn up.
What happened to these high sounding plans? Were they implemented or were the plans found to be unworkable and abandoned?
The point being made here is that councillors have a huge task to revitalise the local government system.
The local authorities deal with the day-to-day needs of the community and the importance of reviving them cannot be over stated. Hopefully the new civic year will change for the better.
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