The City of Masvingo continues to make significant progress under the second phase of Emergency Road Rehabilitation programme (ERRP) as part of intensified efforts to improve the city’s road network.

Under the phased road rehabilitation programme, City of Masvingo received a road grant  worth $ 9, 559, 715.83 from ZINARA funds for the first quarter for routine maintenance.

The funds were used for roads markings and 25km were covered. Roads which constitute the 25 km markings include: Gwereshe, Mhizha, Old great Zimbabwe road, Mashavishavi, Hillside Extension, Target Kopje Extension, Mangwandi Street, Mboroma Street, Chesvingo Street, Yomukono Street, Chiedza Street, Muzora Street, Zimuto Street, Dare Street, 4.1 Infantry, Mambo Street and Civic Centre Parking.

Rehabilitation of roads is going to improve traffic-ability in the city and help lay a strong foundation of growth given transportation is a key enabler of economic growth and development. It also provides business and trade as it provides for access to markets and production inputs.

In order to become an industrialized world class metropolitan city by 2030, economic growth must be preceded by investment in infrastructure.

City of  Masvingo in partnership with the alliance of Dialogue on Shelter for the Homeless Trust, and  the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation held a workshop on mapping stakeholders for urban resilience as well as share experiences  and build  synergies with other stakeholders at Bethany in Masvingo.

The workshop follows the experiences of Masvingo partnerships on WASH and joint urban resilience fund initiatives in Masvingo which include rehabilitation of the Mambo and Tanaiwa Hostels with improved sanitation, construction of a public pay toilet at Garikai Market and establishment of a city fund that is owned by the community.

In his welcome remarks, the Town Clerk for City of Masvingo, Eng Edward Mukaratirwa encouraged  participants to take a leaf from each other’s experiences and urged them to know how to handle various situations affecting them and assert their presence by making a mark on development of the city.

The  partnership between City of Masvingo, Dialogue on Shelter for the Homeless in Zimbabwe Trust and the Masvingo chapter of the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation dates back to 1998.

One of the partnership strategic objective is to create mechanisms for upgrading slum settlements and also to enhance livelihood through involvement of resident communities and other stakeholders particularly on issues of water and sanitation as well as income generating projects in the City.

The City Fund is meant to create a vehicle for upgrading slums and informal settlements through involvement of resident communities and other stakeholders in the planning, designing and implementation of projects. Mobilise resources for developmental projects for the urban poor from community savings, Local Authority, National Budgets, private sector investors and international agencies. Promote partnerships of Local Authorities with national government, community federations, private stakeholders, Institutions of Higher learning, and international agencies.

The workshop was attended by representatives from the office of the Minister of state for provincial Affairs and Devolution, , His Worship, the Mayor, Cllr. Collen Maboke, Councillors, District Development Coordinator’s office, council officials, Dialogue on Shelter for the Homeless Trust officials, the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation members, stakeholders and residents.

The Town Clerk for City of Masvingo, Eng. Edward Mukaratirwa has been adjudged ‘Pro-Development leader of the year’ at the inaugural 2021 Masvingo Megafest Business Awards held at Great Zimbabwe Hotel in Masvingo on Friday, April 22, 2022.

The Awards were received on his behalf by the City of Masvingo Public Relations and  Communications Officer and other Council Directors.

The awards ceremony organised by Megafest seeks to celebrate, appreciate and acknowledge leadership and showcase Masvingo and its business sectors to the world.

Furthermore, the Megafest Awards give widespread exposure and is a thriving platform for the business community to stay connected, relevant, ahead of the game and be verified via documentary films, awards and magazines.

The ceremony brought together the best performers from each sector acting in diverse ways to put the country on the global map for industrialisation and development.

Eng Edward Mukaratirwa expressed gratitude to God and to Council for their hard work, perseverance and commitment to success for the City of Masvingo brand.

He also expressed his appreciation to the organisers for such an event aimed at acknowledging performance in the region, who have and still contribute to development and growth of the country’s economy.

Eng. Mukaratirwa, admonished that “as individuals our visions must always be greater than ourselves; because if that is not the case, we don’t have a vision”.

According to him, “Whatever vision we have must capture the future of our local authority, of our nation, of our continent and of humanity; and if it doesn’t, then it is a very small vision.

“We need to step from our comfort zones and turn our lemons into lemonade. This is the evidence that we have done this while others lamented, complained and perhaps went to sleep. The sleepless nights, efforts, and hard work have birthed great rewards” he said.

The award is yet another one in the overflowing bag of icon on the helm of City of Masvingo.

The City of Masvingo’s managers met with their direct subordinates to sign their 2022 their performance contracts. The process allows both the employee and the supervisor to freely discuss and agree on planned accomplishments for the year. This also aids to complete a new work plan and prepare goals for the new performance cycle.

The performance cycle, with ratings and key targets for employees start beginning of the year and get to be reviewed year end. The performance review should; recognize accomplishments and/or identify developmental needs; promote greater understanding of current and/or vision (Council), as well as the employees’ specific role in facilitating achievement of these objectives; and discuss skills development/enhancement opportunities to encourage continuous learning and to enable career growth.

On annual appraisal supervisors consider each Council and individual goal to determine overall rating. Comments should support ratings for performance that does not meet, meets and/or exceeds expectations. Employees who received disciplinary actions during the performance cycle and/or who have any rating of “Not Meeting Expectations” cannot receive overall rating of ‘Exceeding Expectations’.  The second-level supervisor of the employee is required to review and sign the annual appraisal before they are issued to the employee.

The program dovetails with the government’s vision 2030 and National Development Strategy 1 of becoming a world class economy by 2030, hence the need for Council employees to perform so that the City becomes an industrialised world class metropolitan city by 2030.

What is measured gets done.

The City of Masvingo is currently holding an Integrated Results Based Management training workshop and specifically focusing on personnel performance systems.

The training workshop is meant to afford Council’s employees from grades 10 to 14 with a platform to come up with annual work plans and performance agreements for the year 2022 as well as create a road-map that will ensure the success of the local authority.

Addressing participants who are attending the Integrated Results Based Management workshop, City of Masvingo Town Clerk, Eng Edward Mukaratirwa challenged participants to constantly familiarize themselves with national strategic planning policy documents to successfully respond to national goals highlighted in the vision 2030.

Eng Mukaratirwa also emphasized the importance of results, noting that there was a need for employees to be result oriented and shun presenteeism, particularly at this point in time, when Council is working towards attaining its vision of becoming An Industrialised Metropolitan City by 2030 dovetailing with the City’s strategic plan.

‘We must be result-oriented and work towards achieving tangible results. Proper planning, execution of duties and self-evaluation is needed if we are to achieve results. Employees should shun presenteeism and not lose sight of the symbiotic relationship between the strategic plan and the IRBM, lest our performance contracting and our annual RBM plan get out of sync. There is need to know what we are operationalising and what we want to achieve. Since we are the ones who are setting the tone, it will be very easy to self-evaluate and rate ourselves against the achieved results. Our planning should also be in line with national objectives and policies. At the end of each municipal calendar year, we should be able to achieve our targets and applaud ourselves for the achievements’, he said.

The workshop comes at a time when the performance of the country’s local authorities will now be measured and evaluated based on five key programmes namely; governance and administration, water, sanitation and hygiene, social services, roads infrastructure and public safety and security

The City of Masvingo in conjunction with the Masvingo Business Community joined the rest of the country in undertaking a massive clean up exercise early this morning in the Central Business District and the environs under the theme, ‘Don’t be trashy, clean up your act and recycle’ to create an awareness on litter menace and inculcating the habit of cleanliness in the city.

The exercise which was led by The Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Hon Ezra Chadzamira and City of Masvingo Town Clerk, Eng Edward Mukaratirwa, was done to rid the City’s Business District of filth and to complement His Excellency the president’s vision and efforts to make Zimbabwe the cleanest country in Africa.

The clean-up exercise attracted a large number of people who participated in weeding and sweeping of the environment.

In his address at the close of the clean-up exercise, Hon Chadzamira thanked all participants for coming in their numbers to support such a good cause, he mentioned that cleanliness promotes investment to the city and for that it was necessary to keep the environments clean. He said a clean environment breeds healthy people and healthy people become productive in the socio-economic life in a nation and urged all not to make the exercise a nine-day wonder.

City of Masvingo Town Clerk, Eng Edward Mukaratirwa advised the people not to dump refuse indiscriminately and later turn to clean them and urged all and sundry to be regular participants in all clean up exercises. He said, the exercise has helped tremendously to beautify the environment and has also helped to reduce cases of air-borne diseases.

Visit by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee (PPC) on Public Accounts to the City of Masvingo

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts embarked on an oversight visit to the City of Masvingo on Wednesday , 30 March 2022, in view of monitoring and evaluation of solid waste management issues raised by the Auditor General.

The Chairperson of the Committee, Hon. Dexter Nduna, led the delegation and explained the purpose of the Committee’s visit. The City of Masvingo’s Town Clerk, Eng Edward Mukaratirwa , in turn, welcomed the Public Accounts Committee, after which he introduced Councillors and Managers of the local authority.

Hon. Dexter Nduna gave a presentation on the role of the Committee and its core functions. He outlined the purpose of the visit and went on to pause questions to the Town Clerk on issues to do with solid waste management. Eng Mukaratirwa explained Council’s strategy and waste management policy which dovetails with the City’s mandate of providing adequate and sustainable municipal services to clients and diverse socio economic development opportunities to all stakeholders. In his presentation, Eng Mukaratirwa gave a detailed account of the integrated multidisciplinary mapping solid waste management programme and the landfill which is  still under construction and at 60% completion, Council is currently undertaking. He further outlined the progress made thus far in respect of these projects and presented the operational status and improvement plans of the City to the committee. After the presentations, the members of Parliament questioned the Accounting Officer (Town Clerk) and  management and advised the Council on issues that needed to be prioritised.

During their visit to the City of Masvingo, the Public Accounts members also visited various facilities which include the dumpsite and recently completed clinic in Runyararo North West.

The City of Masvingo held a 2022 Performance Contracts signing ceremony on the 25^th of March 2022 at its Civic Centre Offices.

This comes as part of the efforts at ensuring that Directors live up to their tasks and in fulfillment of the City of Masvingo’s mandate.

The 2022 Performance Contract signing ceremony took a different dimension as it was signed in the presence of His Worship, The Mayor, Deputy Mayor and councillors.

The Town Clerk Eng. Edward Mukaratirwa gave a key note address on implementation of performance enhancement measures.

Eng Mukaratirwa who is the accounting officer for City of Masvingo will ensure that departments comply with the signed performance contracts every year for monitoring and evaluations purposes and to fulfill the key performance indicators.

The performance contract signing ceremony started with a Departmental Integrated Perfomance Agreement. All Directors attended and signed their respective documents upon which their work will be evaluated in the ensuing year.

The Zimbabwe CEO’s Network awarded City of Masvingo ‘Best Performing Award’ on February  25, 2022, at Miekles Hotel in Harare. This honour is awarded to municipalities doing the most in the following sectors: service delivery, social upliftment, attract foreign investment, clean environment, develop and enhance infrastructure over the past 12 months within their municipal boundaries.

The Town Clerk, Eng Edward Mukaratirwa, also tops the shortlist and was awarded the most proactive and outstanding Town Clerk.

City of Masvingo  was recognised as one of the entities that have created jobs, attracted investments, combated crime, and promoted social upliftment.

This was certified by a shield which was received at the recent Zimbabwe CEO’s Network Awards.