THE recent withdrawal of grants to councils by the Government will negatively affect the operations of local authorities, Livingstone Deputy Mayor Fred Sikazwe has said.
Mr Sikazwe, who is Patriotic Front (PF) Akapelwa Ward Councilor, said most councils were going to be struggling in paying their workers following the removal of Government grants.
He however said the decision to stop giving grants to councils was a good one as it would motivate the local authorities to work hard.
Speaking in an interview in Livingstone, Mr Sikazwe said most council in the country had the capacity to generate revenue even without grants if only they planned properly and were disciplined.
“We are going to see some councils struggling especially to pay their workers, but this must however teach them and give them ideas on how to broaden their revenue base,” Mr Sikazwe said.
He said though councils had a lot of challenges in terms of smooth running of operations countrywide, the removal of grants by government must be embraced and used as a motivating factor for working hard.
Mr Sikazwe said that councils had a lot of challenges in the past due to over dependence on grants adding that the local authorities had the capacity to generate income to sustain themselves.
He it was time for councils to wake up and come up with plans of raising money.
Mr Sikazwe said noted that councils country wide had property which they could renovate put on rent and collect revenue from the proceeds.
“I am aware that Livingstone has grown and the businesses have also increased and we have to capture all properties that are on the rate bill and start getting the revenue to help with the smooth running of the council,” he said.
that is the problem the councils are now putting up all their fees and exorbitantly taxing everyone for everything just to make money. They have high levies on goods, road toll fees – even though the roads have not been graded in 6 years and the tar roads are full of pot holes, to property taxes, business taxes, all this just so that they can pay themselves. Nothing gets put back into infrastructure within the district. Even if you want to take a chicken and a bag of maize to your suffering family that is living somewhere else you are levied…..
LUNGU AND HIS PF TEAM ARE TAKING US TO CHILUBA ERA OF ANARCHY,CHAOS AND LAWLESSNESS. TOUGH TIMES FOR ZAMBIA ARE BACK DUE TO POOR LEADERSHIP WITH NO VISION. WE WARNED PF IN 2011 NOT TO BE TOO EXCITED TO MISUSE OUR MONEY IN THE NATIONAL TREASURY BECAUSE DAYS ARE NEVER THE SAME, THEY DIDN’T WANT TO LISTEN. NOW SEE THE DESTRUCTION.
There is need to engage with Government and convince decision makers that the principle of self sustaining councils, townships, municipalities and cities is right but the gradual strategy would create the right transition atmosphere for the entire nation. Over depedence is different from mutual collaboration in servoice delivery.
PF supporters like this mayor are unique in one way or the other. This man is undecided to have position on the matter. In one breath is not fine with the decision by govt to stop giving Livingstone grants, in the next breath is okay. This is typical of people without a spine, as is the case with a good number of PF leaders. He knows this will affect families out there, but when he thinks of his pocket he U-turns in order to maintain his position as a mayor. What a shame that this is a normal trend with PF leaders or kaponyas.
Local authorities will be able to function when they have the authority. There should be real decentralization. Dependence on Lusaka should end.
Is it not a few years ago that government decided to embrace payment of salaries for staff in local authorities through grants? What compelled government to do so then and what has changed now? I find it naive to expect councils like Vubwi to raise money to pay salaries as well provide services. What happens is that Chief officers take turns to share the little that is raked together through trips for workshops.
Can government for once do wide ranging consultations on the same than remain consistently inconsistency.
If really Government was paying them salaries, how come most of the workers could go for 6 months without a salary? Most of the monies were spent on allowances for travelling and meetings. Total abuse!
…be decisive mr deputy mayor….embracing both situations is a sign of cowardice and leadership deficiency……….