Press Statement on the Chitungwiza Town Council's proposed rate increases for the 2015-16 budget.
On behalf of Chitungwiza residents, the Chitungwiza Progressive Residents Association (CHIPRA) strongly rejects a proposal made by Management at Chitungwiza Town Council to increase water rates (from 0.53c to 0.83c per kilolitre) and add a new road levy (of 0.50c per housing unit) for the Town Council's budget for 2016-2017.
The mooted rate increases are unacceptable as they will further burden the long suffering ratepayers and deepen poverty at household level, coming against the backdrop of an underperforming Zimbabwean economy and widespread unemployment in the town.
While acknowledging the difficult financial situation at Chitungwiza Town Council, CHIPRA feels that Management should be strive to do more with the limited resources at its disposal through judicious financial management and streamlining of operations to increase efficiency in service delivery.
We call on the Town Clerk and his Management team to desist from trying to clandestinely smuggle these unsustainable rate increments into the 2016-2017 budget under the guise of 'token' budget consultation meetings which are hastily organised and poorly publicised, thereby denying residents a platform to meaningfully participate in the their town's budgeting cycle process.
In this regard, CHIPRA calls on the Town Clerk and his Management team to organise proper ward-based budget consultative meetings that are publicised in advanced.
CHIPRA demands transparency and accountability in the management of financial affairs of Chitungwiza! The political and administrative leadership at Chitungwiza Town Council have a duty to empower residents to partake in the governance of their town by revealing the details of its financial situation which will enable residents to make informed contributions.
CHIPRA is convinced that without details such as the Town's expenditure on major cost categories such as the monthly salary bill, financial obligations to service providers such as ZINWA, revenue sources and projections- It is an exercise in futility to expect residents to make informed contributions and effectively participate in the budget making processes. We therefore demand an Independent Audit of the town's finances whose report will be shared with residents and other stakeholders in Chitungwiza's local governance matrix as a starting point of the town's 2016-2017 budget cycle.
Information is power and ' Kusaziva kufa'; As a bonafide representative of the people of Chitungwiza, CHIPRA will not endorse a budget drafted without informed residents' input i.e an audit report and other key details of the town's finances!
If Management at Chitungwiza continue to withhold financial information from stakeholders, CHIPRA will lobby the Minister of Local government to reject the product of a flawed budgeting process when the town's budget is placed before him for approval.
NO Audit- NO Budget!
Good morning, how are you?
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because through them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are very small countries with very few population, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this, I would ask you one small favor:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Zimbabwe? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Zimbabwe in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Calle Valencia, 39
28903 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally, I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely
Emilio Fernandez