Chamisa promises to bring back Executive Mayors

Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) president Nelson Chamisa who sees his own victory in the forthcoming elections set for August this year says his administration once voted to power will bring back Executive Mayors.

Chamisa blames the current rot and service delivery challenges in local authorities on interference by central government, hence his stance to bring back Executive Mayors once elected into power.

“THE NEW CITIZENS GOVERNMENT -Will reintroduce Executive Mayors & raise the bar on quality of councillors.

“Stop central government interference in local authorities. Fully implement devolution to devolve authority and development. Devolution is the new revolution!
What do you think??”

A Mayoral executive system allows for the exercise of executive authority through an executive mayor in whom the executive leadership of the municipality is vested and who is assisted by a mayoral committee.

Since independence, Zimbabwe have had ceremonial mayors and then later, executive mayors.

The government thought the executive mayors interfered with the work and authority of the actual chief executive, the town clerks.

Where a company has an executive chairman, there cannot be another chief executive as there will be conflict between the two centres of authority running the same company.

Apparently, former cabinet minister Walter Mzembi blames Zanu PF interference instead, pointing out that mayors were being targeted by the local government ministry in a bid to tarnish the opposition in its urban strongholds.

“(The) Harare mayor, after republic President Emmerson Mnangagwa, is the second most powerful measurable public service deployment.

“Its budget is equivalent to 50% of all ministries combined. It has suffered from interference and lack of vision,” says Mzembi.

He adds: “Bring back an executive mayor, who is protected from ministry of local government politics and interference, for functionality and supervision of Town House bureaucracy.

“His authority should be checkmated by elected councillors only, not politicians!

“Executive mayors must be a direct appointment or elected into office by bona fide ratepayers after satisfying them on their vision and suitability for office through an evaluated Statement of Policy Intent & Management of the City.”

Zwnews