The Sunday Mail
When I joined the City of Harare in the early 1980s, Council had seven administrative departments, all co-ordinated centrally by the late Advocate Edward Kanengoni who was the first black town clerk.
Adv Kanengoni had had a stint with one of the boroughs (local authority districts) in London (UK), and was then reporting, answerable and accountable to the first black-dominated council.
Town House was and remains akin to the board of directors in private entities/State enterprises/statutory bodies, though under the ambit of the Urban Councils Act.
This elected board of directors is supposed to be led by a non-executive chair (or non-executive mayor as they are called) in the case of urban councils.
The town clerk then comes in as the most senior professional person or technocrat to serve, guide and implement resolutions of elected politicians (councillors).
In other jurisdictions, for instance the United States, the town clerk is referred to as the city manager, CEO or MD.
Therefore, the town clerk of a big city is much like the group CEO or group MD.
When I joined local government, the City of Harare had four main committees that exercised oversight on the six functional departments of council.
Ad hoc or formal sub-committees were also constituted – where necessary – to assist committees in addressing urgent and specific issues.
In my view, this made for a functional and robust set-up.
The main committees of council were finance, health, housing and social services, town planning and works and general purposes.
In a number of instances, the committe chairs deliberated on important matters and were regarded as the “executive” committee, with powers and responsibilities just below those of the full council itself.
The top technocrat, the town clerk, co-ordinated the operational activities of the six departmental heads as well as his own. For most intents and purposes, the town clerk was regarded as the “first among equals” in the city’s top management structure.
The city was basically administrated along racial lines at the time.
The affluent – predominately whites only suburbs (low-density) – were to the north and east of the city, and the black townships (high-density) were to the west and south.
Other minorities found themselves mainly accommodated in medium-density housing sections dotted in between.
Municipal services and facilities in whites only suburbs were of First World standards, funded by rates, high service charges and generous grants from central Government, among other revenue sources.
Conversly, the same services and facilities in black suburbs were generally of low standards, funded in the main by beer sales from the numerous outlets built in townships.
It was with the realisation of this clearly iniquitous situation that the first black-dominated council adopted the “One City Concept” – a serious attempt to serve all of Harare’s residents fairly.
Our overall budget was comparable to the national budgets of Botswana and Malawi at the time. In fact, Malawi’s was lower.
When I joined the City of Harare, I had already qualified as a chartered accountant, and went on to become the first black city treasurer, having also qualified as a certified public accountant.
The city health department was headed by a still practicing medical practitioner, Dr Lovemore Mbengeranwa.
Other department heads, who unfortunately are now all late, were Engineer Tongai Mahachi (works), Dr Muvengwa Mukarati (general manager city marketing ) and Mr Alban Musekiwa (housing and community services).
We had all replaced experienced staff that had joined the exodus of whites at Independence, save for Dr Timothy Stamps, the previous medical officer.
He continued to serve council well as a councillor and then alderman before joining central Government.
The few remaining blacks in the top echelons had relatively short work experience, generally gained at relatively low levels of the hierarchy.
Massive changes have taken place in council since I left their employ to rejoin the private sector.
The number of council departments has increased to about 12.
Coupled with increased committees, the organisational structure has become wieldy and top heavy, thereby compromising efficiency.
The mayor’s position became executive at some point, and this had potential to create duplication of functions and conflict with those of an executive town clerk.
Service provision and facilities, like in other cities and towns, have deteriorated remarkably.
For instance, we now have the worst road network that we have had in the past four, if not five, decades – poorly maintained and littered with potholes. Garbage collection has become erratic. Water provision is now most unsatisfactory. Street lights have become a luxury; there is serious need to get solar-powered lights.
Numerous unplanned, illegal structures have also sprouted citywide, and vendors and “pirate” taxis are now a menace.
Further, corruption by both councillors and the so-called professional staff continues to be reported, while the by-laws we once held as sacrosanct are now treated with disdain, ignored completely or wantonly violated.
The calibre of councillors and their intellectual capacity leave a lot to be desired.
There is urgent need for corrective measures.
For starters, the City’s vision, “World Class City Status by 2030 (or is it 2025)”, needs to be harmonised with running national programmes like Zim-Asset.
It is both naïve and foolhardy, in my view, to run a developmental programme, moreso that of a capital city, without linking it with the national programme of action.
Zim-Asset, Sadc’s Industrialisation Strategy, the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals all basically speak to the same socio-economic issues.
At Independence, we suffered serious shortages of professional white staff that joined the exodus to South Africa and Western nations. Later, black professionals were to follow the beaten track following Zimbabwe’s land reforms, which triggered Western sanctions that have ravaged the economy.
However, the situation is slowly changing for the better.
We should thus take advantage of returning professionals who may have gained useful experience abroad.
Given such a background, my pick of an ideal candidate to fill the position of town clerk should be one with the following attributes:
(1) A strategist with original and innovative ideas, thought diversity, clarity of mind, energetic and displays high competency levels, a game-changer with good communication skills (oral and written);
(2) An accountable team leader with a clear and clean conscience; whose integrity is beyond reproach. He/she must have strong interpersonal, analytical and professional ethical credentials, must be knowledgeable and respect good corporate governance principles;
(3) A respected and trusted character. Such respect is normally earned over time and does not come up naturally or spontaneously. He/she should, therefore, develop good strategic relationships with key stakeholders in Government, parastatals, other local authorities and the private sector;
(4) Remarkable professional and academic qualifications. The long-standing practice in Harare has been to appoint someone with a strong legal background. However, post-Independence experience is that some of our best town clerks (they are few, I might add) did not have such backgrounds;
(5) ICT and financial literacy are, in my view, prerequisites and indispensable; and
(6) The Town Clerk, just like everyone else, has a constitutional entitlement to belong to a political party of his/her choice. During his/her tenure, however, they should remain apolitical;
Such a town clerk needs the support and co-operation of a council that is equipped with the necessary skills mix and credentials in business, academia, law, engineering, town planning, finance and health, among others.
He/she should also be supported by a mayor with sufficient intellectual capacity, substance and zeal, and desirous of leaving an everlasting legacy.
Edmore A.M Ndudzo is the first black City Treasurer of Harare
