Mayor Action Nyamukondiwa recieving the symbolic key for the truck from the supplier’s representative. On his left are the Town Clerk, Mr Malvern Dondo, Chamber Secretary Mr Willard Mangwengwende, Engineer Blessing Musarira and Director of Housing and Community Services Mr Aaron Masembura.
The City of Kadoma recently took delivery of a 12cubic meter tipper truck acquired using Devolution Funds. The tipper truck was bought at a cost of ZWL5,8 million from a local company.
According to the Kadoma City Council Chamber Secretary, Mr Willard Mangwengwende, the funds were availed by government under the Devolution and Decentralisation Policy. He added that the truck would be used for construction works, mainly roads rehabilitation and maintenance.
The Mayor of the City of Kadoma, His Worship Alderman Action Nyamukondiwa said the tipper truck could not have come at a better time. He said that the rains had destroyed many roads and were in need of repair.
“The tipper will service the roads network which was damaged by the excessive rains which we experienced this year . We are expecting a water bowser which will compliment the road works,” said Mayor Nyamukondiwa.
Devolution was adopted as a key component of the new 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe, part of which in Chapter 14 states that “there must be devolution of power and responsibilities to lower tiers of Government in Zimbabwe”.
The provision of Devolution Funds to local authorities is in fulfillment of one of the objectives of the policy which is “to transfer local fiscal responsibilities and resources from the national government to sub-national entities in order to establish a sound financial base for each provincial and metropolitan council and local authorities in rural areas”.
The policy has been lauded as a game changer in local governance as its implementation is providing the much-needed capital for the acquisition of service delivery equipment by local authorities. Local authorities started to receive devolution funds in 2019. The funds have been used to improve service delivery, especially water supply, solid waste management and roads.