Councils Are Responsible For Maintenance Of City Roads - Mangwana
Zimbabwe’s Information Secretary, Nick Mangwana, has stated that local councils are responsible for maintaining roads within their areas. This comes in response to complaints from road users about the poor state of some roads in cities and towns, despite the fees they pay that are meant for road repairs. Mangwana said:
The maintenance of city roads falls under the purview of Local Authorities (City Fathers). Since 2000, there has been evidence of serious ineptitude by these Authorities in a number of service delivery areas, which include, refuse collection, water treatment and supply, road maintenance and street lighting. To alleviate the suffering urban dwellers, Govt started making interventions such as buying chemicals for water treatment, deploying the ERRP2 program for roads and EMA taking charge of refuse collection and the Geopomona Project. There are always celebrations when Council Election Results are announced. Every ratepayer should ask themselves what they are really celebrating; these urban gullies in the picture?
Local government authorities in Zimbabwe have been complaining that the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA), which collects toll fees, does not provide them with sufficient funds for road rehabilitation. In January 2023, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume even expressed the need to take legal action against ZINARA to regain control of vehicle licensing and allocate more resources for road repairs. He accused ZINARA of only providing inadequate funding, making it difficult for local authorities to maintain and repair roads in the city.
However, ZINARA has assigned blame to local government authorities. They criticised the quality of work done by some local authorities on road rehabilitation projects funded by ZINARA. ZINARA also highlighted that some local authorities were overcommitting or signing contracts that exceeded their allocated resources. They emphasised the importance of local authorities ensuring sustainable quality work within their allocated budgets and providing timely reports on the use of disbursed funds.
Many roads throughout the country are in terrible condition and have become dangerous for drivers and pedestrians. Both the central government and local government authorities recognise this problem. The roads are in such poor shape that they pose a serious risk to people’s safety.
