By Colin Nyangani
Why Local authorities experience financial crisis which inhibit them from delivering public value?
The phenomenon of financial distress in Harare City Council has created one of the greatest challenges in local government namely how to create, deliver and sustain public value.
The situation is worsened by heightened expectations of planning and delivery by consumers who are increasingly demanding value for money.
In my analysis, I am oblidged to school our authorities with highly revered academic qualifications and experience experience in Public Administration that values are the glue that holds us together as responsible citizens i.e ( Residents, Civil servants, City Father’s and all stakeholders), hence if we lacked shared values, we cannot achieve any vision and particularly Vision 2025/30 because values always relate to actions no matter how great Vision 2025/30 and it’s mission.
The term value has it’s roots in the word “valour” which means strength hence values are a source of strength because they give people the power to act.
A tendency by policy makers to adopt policies which were successful elsewhere without proper examination of their usefulness in their contexts. Such an approach was problematic in that interventions were not successful in most cases due to lack of compatibility between the City and the selected policy.
Harare City Council envisions a “World Class status by 2025”. It remains a dream for global competitiveness considering our sorry state of affairs which requires Harare City Council to benchmark it’s service standards against those cities that have attained World Class Status.
Therefore, public service delivery must have people centred principles as these are important in governing the manner in which public servants behave.
As I write this article my expectations are deeply rooted in meaningful consultations to ensure comprehensiveness and representativeness, setting realistic service delivery Standards, Customer Service Charter, Addressing issues of Openness and Transparency, Redress and value for money principle.
This must be done in all 46 Districts; Residents Associations, Community Based Organizations, Civic Society Organizations, Environmental Management Agency, Harare City Council District Officials, Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of State for Harare, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Finance officials.
SirColin believes effective leaders are capable of attracting voluntary commitment of followers, energise them and transform Harare City Council into a new entity with capacity for survival, growth, excellence and dream of Vision 2025/30 a reality.
Authored by: Colin S. Nyangani (SirColin)
Community Development Consultant
@ SirColin Personal Mastery
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