Sweeping dragnet to nail rogue councils

CLOUDINE MATOLA

Government has activated a sweeping dragnet to flush out rogue, underperforming councils across the country—urban and rural alike—in a dramatic escalation of its fight against collapsing service delivery.

From bursting sewer pipes in Harare to uncollected garbage in small towns, dysfunctional local authorities are now firmly in the government’s crosshairs.

This week, Cabinet approved the Minimum Service Delivery Standards Framework, a bold and tech-driven policy that will enforce uniform benchmarks across all local authorities—backed by real-time digital tracking, strict performance indicators, and public accountability.

“No compromise to service delivery,” declared Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr. Jenfan Muswere following the Cabinet meeting.

“Cabinet considered and approved the Minimum Service Delivery Standards for Local Authorities Framework. Local Authorities were directed to develop roadmaps towards implementation of their roadmaps,” he added, underlining government’s intent to bring order to a system long marred by mismanagement, financial decay and a culture of impunity.

The framework mandates that every council—whether in a metropolitan city or a remote district—must now deliver on basic services such as water, sanitation, roads, lighting, waste management, housing and public health, measured against national thresholds in quantity, quality, cost and timeliness. In essence, service delivery is no longer aspirational—it’s enforceable.

“The objectives for developing minimum service delivery standards are: to define the minimum levels of services that Local Authorities should provide, and the nature of service recipients should expect… to determine minimum cost… and to provide a basis upon which feedback on the level of satisfaction against the standards will be evaluated,” said Muswere.

Critically, the government has embedded technology at the heart of the framework. Each council’s performance will be submitted digitally and monitored in real-time through a national dashboard system—allowing authorities and the public alike to track progress and spot failure as it happens.

“Each area has performance indicators, benchmarks and performance standards. The data will be submitted online, with a real-time dashboard system being implemented to track, monitor and evaluate progress,” said Muswere.

The initiative draws from President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030 agenda, which positions functional, modern local governance as a cornerstone of national development. It also builds on the 2023 launch of the government’s blueprint titled “A Call to Action – No Compromise to Service Delivery.”

“The nation will recall that in 2023, His Excellency the President… launched the Blueprint on ‘A Call to Action’ to modernise the operations of Local Authorities,” Muswere said.

However, the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) has responded with caution, raising serious concerns about the framework’s enforceability and inclusiveness.

CHRA Director Reuben Akili said that while the idea of national service delivery standards is welcome in principle, the lack of clear definitions and the absence of citizen consultation are significant red flags.

“Firstly, from the CHRA perspective, what are the standards which are being talked about here, and what gave birth to them? Some of these standards need to incorporate the service user or consumer,” Akili said.

He questioned the vague nature of the so-called minimum standards, especially given the track record of previous government initiatives such as performance-based contracts that have yielded little to no accountability.

“We’ve seen the government roll out performance-based contracts, but parastatals and councils continue to underperform. So, what are the sanctions that will compel compliance this time? The absence of clear consequences means this new policy could fail just like those before it,” Akili added.

CHRA argues that the public should have been more involved in shaping the benchmarks so they reflect lived realities and resident priorities—especially when it comes to water provision, environmental management, and healthcare standards.

“These standards must be the product of broad citizen consultation. For example, on water provision, are we saying each resident should receive water three days a week? What is the required water quality? What parameters are being used for waste or environmental management? Without such clarity, implementation will be patchy,” Akili said.

He stressed that the real solution lies in comprehensive local government reform, not just policy statements. Structural and systemic deficiencies, including poor financial management and outdated local government laws, must be tackled through binding legislative changes.

“We are calling for standards that have clear benchmarks and are enforceable. But at the heart of this is the need for legal reform to strengthen accountability mechanisms. Without reforming our local government system—both in financial and environmental management—this won’t move the needle,” Akili said.

Over the years, Zimbabwe’s local authorities—particularly in major cities like Harare, Bulawayo and Chitungwiza—have come to symbolise administrative collapse.

Once hailed for efficiency and urban planning, these councils have disintegrated under the weight of political interference, internal corruption, and weak financial controls.

Auditor-General reports in the past five years have exposed a trail of irregularities: ghost workers on council payrolls, unaudited books, uncollected debts running into billions of dollars, and the wholesale flouting of procurement rules.

While ratepayers continue to shoulder heavy bills, services have plummeted to crisis levels.

In Harare, residents have become accustomed to dry taps, dangerous potholes, and an unrelenting stench from overflowing waste dumps.

In Bulawayo, once a model of order, water shedding is now routine, and infrastructure maintenance is barely visible.

Across smaller towns like Marondera, Gwanda and Karoi, similar stories echo—waste collection is erratic, clinics are under-resourced, and road networks resemble minefields.

Government officials say this new framework is designed to end this era of failure.

The policy shift is significant—not least because it injects objectivity and measurability into what has often been a politicised and opaque system. Performance targets will now be clearly defined and uniformly applied.

Councils will be judged not by political affiliations or historical excuses, but by quantifiable service output.

The national dashboard will serve as a central platform for monitoring compliance, diagnosing weaknesses and enforcing consequences.

Importantly, the framework also introduces a feedback loop, allowing residents to evaluate their council’s performance based on set expectations—raising the bar for transparency and civic engagement.

“The performance of Local Authorities… will be based on assessments set in the Minimum Service Delivery Standards Framework. Feedback on the level of satisfaction will be evaluated,” said Muswere.

In essence, this means that the same yardstick applied to Bulawayo will also measure performance in Beitbridge. All councils will be assessed against a standardised national template—finally eliminating the wide discrepancies in service delivery that have defined the sector.

While the framework is ambitious, analysts say its success will depend on sustained political will and operational discipline.

“Setting performance standards is an excellent step, but the real test lies in consistent enforcement and resistance to political interference,” said a governance expert who spoke on condition of anonymity.

There are also questions around capacity.

Many local authorities, especially rural ones, lack basic resources, staffing, and ICT infrastructure to support digital reporting.

The government has hinted at capacity-building support, but the timelines remain unclear.

Despite these hurdles, the message is clear: the government is watching.

Under the sweeping dragnet, no council is safe from scrutiny—and no failure will be hidden.

“No compromise to service delivery,” Muswere repeated. This time, there are digital tools, benchmarks—and consequences—to back it up.