The ManicaPost
Ray Bande recently in JULIASDALE
THERE are too many senior and middle managers in local authorities serving in an acting capacity, a situation that is militating against good corporate governance and effective execution of duties, thereby hindering effective service delivery, Auditor General, Mrs Mildred Chiri has said.
Lending credence to the Auditor General’s perception, in Mutare for example, the local authority has an Acting Town Clerk, Acting Chamber Secretary, Acting Chief Security Officer, Acting Health Services Director, Acting IT Manager, Acting Workshop Manager and an Acting Chief Planner — all senior and middle managers tasked with making key decisions in the day-to-day operations of City of Mutare.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Office of the Auditor General’s two-day media engagement workshop at Montclair Hotel here in Juliasdale, Auditor General, Mrs Chiri said: “There is still a lot of work to be done to improve corporate governance in our local authorities. If we look at issues relating to cooperate governance, you notice that we have too many managers serving in acting capacities.
“For as long as you have people that are acting and not substantive office bearers, there is little we can expect in terms of effective service delivery because they are always hesitant to make important decisions.
“This affects service delivery since someone will always have the impression that he or she is just warming up someone’s seat and they think when the time is up they will be removed.
“Over and above that, there are a lot more issues that need attention in local authorities relating to their day-to-day operations,” she said.
City of Mutare spokesperson, Mr Spren Mutiwi admitted that they have several senior and middles manager serving on an acting capacity, but insisted that the local authority is actually in a better position when compared to others.
“Our situation is actually better than some local authorities. Yes, we have several senior and middle manager serving on an acting capacity, but if you look closely at it, in our case it is more of logistical processes that need to be followed to have those posts filled by substantive office bearers.
“In some cases adverts calling for interested candidates to apply have already been published and interviews are ongoing, while in other cases our hands are tied as we have to wait for approval from higher offices to recruit,” said Mr Mutiwi.
Turning to the issue of translating the Auditor General’s reports into local languages, Mrs Chiri said they have made a deliberate move to have their reports written in indigenous languages in line with the mantra that no one must be left behind in the country’s development.
“As the Office of the Auditor General, we are a signatory to the international standards which stipulate that our work is supposed to make a positive change to people’s lives.
“Therefore, for the masses to know and understand how they are being governed, we decided to write our reports in local languages for everyone to understand them.
“This will make them understand what is going on in these public entities, they deserve to know that since they are also active in paying taxes and helping in national development. This is also in line with the discourse espoused by the country’s leadership that we should leave no one behind,” she said.
