Innocent Ruwende Senior Reporter
Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo has shot down a request by Harare councillors to have their monthly allowances doubled. The mayor is currently getting US$450, his deputy US$395, committee chairpersons US$340 and councillors US$300.
Sources say Harare Mayor Clr Bernard Manyenyeni approached Minister Chombo with a proposal for councillors’ allowances to be increased to US$600. The mayor and his deputy’s allowances would also in turn be doubled, so would those of committee chairpersons.
He said if the allowances were not reviewed, councillors would be forced to engage in compensatory ac- tivities.
But Minister Chombo is understood to have disagreed with the mayor, saying councillors should disabuse themselves of the belief that they were employed by council when theirs was community service.
He said the city was struggling to provide basic services allegedly because it didn’t have enough financial resources, as such it would not make sense to increase councillors’ allowances.
In ordinary council minutes of July 2, councillors noted the minister’s position on the issue.
Harare City Council employees have been struggling to get their salaries backdated to last year as service delivery continues to plummet.
“His Worship, the mayor reported on May 21, 2014, he wrote to the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing requesting the minister to review councillors’ allowances. The minister, however, declined to review the councillors’ allowances,” reads part of the minutes.
Harare City Council employees have been struggling to get their salaries backdated to last year as service delivery continues to decline.
In June last year, Government rejected proposals by Bulawayo councillors to hike their monthly allowances and maintained that then mayor, Thaba Moyo, be paid US$350 while his deputy Amen Mpofu would get US$300 and councillors US$220.
In March this year, Bulawayo councillors passed a resolution to have their allowances hiked to US$750 from US$220.