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Innocent Ruwende Municipal Reporter
Harare City Council has begun the 2018 pre-budget consultations with various stakeholders to solicit views on how the city’s funds will be administered. The city’s corporate communications manager, Mr Michael Chideme, told The Herald from the council stand at the Harare Agricultural Show last week that the meetings, which began at the weekend, were designed to promote participatory budgeting.

“We have started budget consultations for 2018; our consultations are beginning on Friday (last week) where we are having a meeting in Waterfalls with all stakeholders in Harare, and all councillors and members of their development committees will be present,” he said.

“Our consultations will now be headed by zonal teams, unlike in the past where officials from Town House or Rowan Martin used to head the budget consultation teams. The people who are resident in the various wards are knowledgeable of the problems and the needs of their respective areas.”

At the end of the consultations, zonal teams will bring to the centre what they will have gathered from the various wards.

Through attending the meetings, Mr Chideme said, residents could be able to determine council rates and charges and influence the way council used its funds.

The meetings would be convened at various community halls in all residential suburbs.

According to the new guidelines for local authorities, between 15 percent and 25 percent of the total budget should be reserved for capital projects.

Government recently introduced the 30:70 employment cost to service delivery ratio.

Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere rejected Harare’s $448 million budget for 2017, saying it was too high and unrealistic.

He then approved a revised budget of $328,2 million after the local authority trimmed it by more than $100 million.

Minister Kasukuwere said even if council were to collect 100 percent of billed revenue and received all the loan funds budgeted for, the revenue budget should not exceed $271 million.