Bulawayo councillors who were recently elected into office have requested a training workshop to learn about the three percent Ward Retention Fund scheme.
The ward retention fund is made up of three percent of total rates paid by residents in a ward to the local authority every month.
The funds are then ploughed back to the wards to establish and sustain their community development projects.
The councillors raised the issue during the latest Full Council Meeting, in reaction to a point raised by Ward 9 Councillor, Donaldson Mabuto about the stalling of various projects in their wards under the initiative.
“Your Worship the ward retention scheme was introduced some time in 2016/17, before we even got elected into office in 2018. We fully understood how it worked and even explained it to the residents,” Cllr Mabuto said.
“Unfortunately we may be raising this matter for the eighth time, that we are worried about the progress of the ward retention projects. It is worrying because we are accountable to the residents. We give feedback to the council, we submit our projects but nothing has been done to look into this matter.”
Cllr Mabuto requested that the finance committee submit a detailed report to the council on the progress of the projects under the scheme per ward.
“We want a detailed report of what is being done in all the wards because some of the esteemed councillors here have taken over some of the pending projects. We all want to know how far they have gone,” he said.
Ward 6 Councillor, Nkosilathi Hove-Mpofu, suggested that for the councillors to fully participate in the discussion, they needed training to learn and understand how the ward retention fund operates.
Ward 18 Councilor, Felix Madzana, concurred with Cllr Hove-Mpofu.
“We want to learn about the ward retention fund Your Worship. At this moment we do not know the intervals at which the funds are released and any other conditions around the money. We do not know if we should just alternatively approach the finance committee and ask questions pertaining to the scheme,” Cllr Madzana said.
Ward 10 Councillor, Khalazani Ndlovu, noted that the finance committee should be given some time to compile a list of projects per ward, detailing how much progress had been made with each, what is outstanding and any other matters relating to those projects.
Ward 13 Councillor, Susan Sithole, also mentioned an outstanding project in her ward under the ward retention fund scheme but she was unaware of who to approach and how to follow up on the project.
It’s great to see local councilors taking proactive steps to enhance their understanding of financial management through the Ward Retention Fund scheme. Training on such important matters will not only increase transparency but also ensure that resources are effectively used to benefit communities. I hope this initiative will bring about positive changes for residents.
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