The Rusape Town Council held an Integrity familiarisation workshop recently. The Integrity familiarisation workshop was held with the broader view aimed towards propagating good corporate governance values across all Council departmental operations. The major objective of the workshop was to establish a vibrant Integrity Committee. The Integrity Committee is charged with overseeing the promotion of ethical conduct, creating safeguards to guard against corruption, malpractices and mismanagement across all Council operations. The establishment of the Integrity Committee in Council came after the realisation by the Anti-corruption watchdog, ZACC that most public entities are operating without Integrity Committees. ZACC noted with concern that the absence of integrity committees in public entities was fuelling corruption, mismanagement and malpractices. Rusape Town Council heeded the call by ZACC and initiated the Integrity Familiarisation Workshop. Under the guidance of the seasoned workshop facilitator Mr Samanjese from the Public Service Commission, delegates were mostly made up of the Council Chairperson, Councillors, Council management and officials from the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. It was determined that the newly promulgated Integrity Committee should be well-resourced in order for its work to be impactful hence the need to incorporate its activities in the strategic plan. Council scored a first by being the first local authority in the country to set up the Integrity Committee.

The Integrity Committee has a full bucket list of things to attend to chief among them includes coming up with a whistle-blowing policy, complaints handling policy and conducting integrity surveys. The major thrust of the committee is to prevent and curb incidents of corruption, mismanagement and malpractices by promoting a culture of good corporate governance and strict adherence to ethical codes during the course of conducting Council business. Furthermore, the Integrity Committee is charged with continuously assessing the ethical culture, advising Council management about integrity management, publishing best practices in integrity management, monitoring compliance with the code of conduct, coordinating
investigations into malpractices, assisting in addressing ethical dilemmas, meeting directly with the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and providing quarterly updates in relation to ethical matters including code breaches. The committee operates under the auspices of the Town Secretary and is empowered to instigate investigations into matters within its scope of responsibility which includes meeting and obtaining any information it requires from staff, management and 24 executive. It is also mandated to develop training materials, case studies and other
tools which enhance integrity. The establishment of the Integrity Committee is expected to go a long way in limiting the risks of the occurrence of corporate malpractices within Council and this is expected to augment the already existing good corporate governance
culture. In addition, the committee is expected to beef up good working relations with the national corruption and ethics watchdog, ZACC thereby promoting a zero-tolerance culture for any forms of unethical conduct hence the importance
attached to the Integrity Committee.

The Council’s Health Department recently held a multi-stakeholder meeting to provide feedback on the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan. The multi stakeholder meeting is the product of a series of meetings, workshops and a survey conducted last year by the department in collaboration with GIZ and cooperating partners like EMA, Residents’ Associations, members of the business community and several partners. The coterie of meetings, workshops and surveys resulted in the formulation of theTown’s first Integrated Solid Waste  Management Plan, making it the 6th urban council to come up with such an initiative out of the thirty-two urban authorities in the country. Mr Bere, the GIZ consultant and the meeting facilitator led delegates in deliberating about the various expectations and problems that the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan is expected to resolve. Chief among these expectations is that the plan aims to prevent waste production to a great extent within the Rusape jurisdiction.

The plan is also expected to bolster measures to foster recycling and reuse whilst drastically reducing waste accumulation. One of the critical objectives of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan is that it should lower the cost of refuse removal while improving collection efficiency. This is to be attained by beefing up solid waste machinery and also championing the use of waste energy. Overall, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan is set
to transform landfilling practices and ultimately lead to the decommissioning of the Tsanzaguru landfill. It emerged during meeting deliberations that for the plan to work, every entity and individual within Rusape must take ownership of the plan. In addition, the implementation of the plan must be buttressed by robust recycling programs, and comprehensive public awareness campaigns anchored on empowering residents to be conscious of the best practices in solid waste management at the community level. In implementing the plan, the polluter pays principle will be applied in order to foster a culture of environmental responsibility within the Rusape community. Performance management standards will be put in place to ensure that adequate monitoring and evaluation frameworks are in place to guarantee the success of the plan.

The meeting established a multi-stakeholder steering committee to coordinate the Integrated Solid Waste Management plan. The steering committee is made up of representatives from the following agencies EMA, Ministry of Health, ZRP, Ministry of Women Affairs, CBOs, Private players, Residents’ Associations, Save the Environment and Climate Foundation Trust (SECFT), Vendor representatives and officials from the Council’s health department.
The meeting coincided with the unveiling of the kitchen hut at the Makoni Old Peoples Home. The kitchen was built by the Save the Environment and Climate Trust and the structure was made from used plastic pet bottles filled with siltation sand from the Rusape River. Delegates witnessed the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the kitchen hut. The meeting was concluded by the provisional adoption of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan by Rusape Town Council councillors and awaits full adoption at the next full council meeting. The plan is set to guide the town for the next twenty years. The meeting was attended by Councillors, Council management and staff, GIZ officials, and officials from Harare, Marondera and Chipinge urban authorities amongst other important invited strategic partners.

Council reports on devolution progress at NDS1 Multi Stakeholder Consultative Meeting

On the 10th of May 2023, Rusape Town Council and other stakeholders attended the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) multi-stakeholder consultative meeting at Vengere 602 Hall. The NDS1 consultative meeting was presided by the Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development Honourable Minister Clemence Chiduwa together with some senior representatives from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the DDC for Manicaland Mr Mashinge. The main thrust of the consultative meeting was to enlighten stakeholders on the importance attached to the NDS1 blueprint and its main pillars. Stakeholders were reminded of the critical roles they are expected to play in making meaningful contributions towards the success of NDS1. During the NDS1 meeting, Rusape Town Council made a presentation during which Council highlighted some of the projects that it managed to undertake with the devolution funds that it received from the central government. Using devolution funds and in the spirit of fulfilling the objectives of the NDS1, Council managed to drill three boreholes in Wards 5, 6, and 9. This was done in recognition of the challenges confronting Council in terms of supplying potable clean water to residents owing to load shedding being experienced at water stations and throughout the town. This will enable residents to have access to alternative sources of water whenever there are potable water supply challenges. Boreholes are also meant to reduce the chances of water-borne diseases like Cholera, to date Rusape has not had a single case of Cholera during the current outbreak which is being experienced countrywide.

Council further reported on how it managed to procure a refuse compactor for the provision of sanitation services through refuse collection. In addition, utility vehicles in the form of three pickup trucks and a hydraulics-enabled lorry were acquired for the purposes of improving the mobility of technical teams during service delivery. The deputy minister and all stakeholders in attendance were
informed of the construction of the water reticulation system in Magamba Ward

Using the devolution funds, Council also purchased and installed street solar lights in Ward 5 to improve public safety at night. Council is moving in line with the president’s mantra of not leaving anyone or any place behind as it is striving to cater for every resident, stakeholder and every corner under the jurisdiction of Rusape in terms of development. The NDS1 consultative meeting provided Rusape stakeholders with a more intimate understanding of the national development agenda, its pillars and the role various stakeholder have to play in bringing Vision 2030 to fruition. Stakeholders were
urged to utilise the resources which are locally available and to process them in order to achieve beneficiation thereby achieving value addition for the betterment of Rusape town and Manicaland as a province. Rusape Town Council has already endeared itself to using internal resources to facilitate development in line with the president’s mantra, “brick upon brick/nyika inovakwa nemwene vayo” as the town edges towards attaining smart city status.