COUNCILLORS in Harare have largely abandoned the electorate, except for a few who have continued to work hard to remain connected with their constituents, a report compiled after interviews with residents has revealed. The report, compiled by the Harare Residents Trust (HRT), said the councillors were evaluated based on accessibility, availability, communication and responsiveness to residents’ requests. The evaluation also looked at councillors’ participation in residents’ initiatives such as community meetings, the convening of ward feedback meetings and the articulation of residents’ issues in committee and full council meetings.
HRT said councillors were elected to play oversight, representative and policy formulation roles, and to a lesser extent, to facilitate community development. To assess their level of performance, HRT interviewed 30 councillors, requesting that they identify their top three performers based on their contributions to council debates, engagement with residents, articulation of issues and general visibility, andscore each of their top three performers out of 10. Similarly, council managers and residents were also asked to evaluate their ward councillors rating them out of 10.
Among the top performers were Denford Ngadziore (ward 16, Mabelreign), Richard Pamire (ward 37, Kuwadzana), Kudzai Kadzombe (ward 41, Marlborough), Felix Chabuda (ward 11, Mbare) and Jubilation Shoko (ward 45, Kuwadzana Phase 3 and Tynwald South). The other top performing councillors were Rufaro Matsika (ward 18, Mt Pleasant), Simon Manzanga (ward 12, Stoneridge and Southlea Park in Harare South), Charles Chidhagu (ward 30, Glen View), Simon Mapanzure (ward 34, Mufakose), Prince Mutebuka (ward 9, Greendale) and Womberai Nhende (ward 27, Glen Norah). Councillors Ngadziore, Kadzombe and Chabuda were rated as the top three performers, respectively.
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“The top performers were based on the frequency of being listed among the top three by fellow councillors, officials and residents. None of the councillors in the City of Harare was rated between one and 10, with the highest scoring an average of 7 out of 10,” HRT said. “Councillors not mentioned were considered passive and lacked confidence to express themselves during council debates and rarely convened community ward feedback meetings to remain connected with the electorate. Other councillors were branded arrogant and impatient with residents.” The report said some councillors, residents and officials argued that the city fathers should be rated based on council chamber debates and articulating residents’ issues, hands-on service delivery and number of feedback meetings and regularity of updates and feedback to residents.
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