Published: 3 hours ago

The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works will now play an active role in the recruitment of senior council employees following serious concerns about the caliber, skills, and competencies of officials occupying key positions within local authorities.

The development comes in the wake of a major scandal at Hurungwe Rural District Council (RDC), where three senior officials were sentenced by the High Court to a combined 174 years in prison after being convicted of defrauding the local authority of more than US$65 000 intended for critical infrastructure projects.

In a circular distributed to all town clerks, secretaries, chief executive officers, and board secretaries, the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Dr John Bhasera, expressed alarm over weaknesses in recruitment processes and issued new guidelines designed to strengthen transparency, fairness and professionalism. He stressed that achieving Zimbabwe's National Vision 2030 depends on placing competent individuals in positions of leadership within councils to drive service delivery and improve community livelihoods.

"The National Vision 2030 can only be achieved when the right people are in the right positions to drive processes aimed at improving service delivery and the livelihoods of their communities. To this end, it is imperative that we strive to ensure compliance with procedures and guidelines on selection and recruitment as outlined in Ministerial Circulars currently in force," said Dr Bhasera.

Under the new directives, councils will be required to seek ministerial approval for draft job advertisements, submit applicant lists for joint background checks before shortlisting candidates, and allow the ministry, through the Department of Local Authorities and Inspectorate, to actively participate in all interview processes until final selections are made. The guidelines also prohibit the repeated use of officials from one local authority as panellists in multiple recruitment exercises, with the ministry emphasising that the pool of qualified practitioners is sufficiently wide.

Government believes the reforms will help curb corruption, strengthen accountability, and ensure that only suitably qualified officials take up senior positions in local authorities. However, the shift also hands central government greater influence in council affairs, a move some observers warn could spark debate about political interference in local governance structures.
- The Chronicle