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Leonard Ncube, [email protected]

VICTORIA Falls has been recognised as one of the best-run local authorities in Zimbabwe due to its cleanliness, good governance and effective service delivery, town clerk, Mr Ronnie Dube has said.

The city was recently conferred awards by President Mnangagwa, who is encouraging a culture of excellence, work ethic and servant leadership in the country.

Victoria Falls implemented the Whole of Government Performance Management System, which measures the performance of officers and projects feeding into the national development agenda.

The city’s water provision and road network have been upgraded and it collects refuse twice a week. In addition, the city was recognised for its road maintenance, waste management and sanitation, public lighting and corporate social responsibility.

The Second Republic came up with performance contracts with Government officials and heads of parastatals signing portfolio-specific contracts.

In the Chief Executive Officers/Town Clerks for Urban Local Authorities category, Masvingo’s Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa took first place, Mr Dube was first runner-up and Mvurwi Town Council’s Dr Shelly Nyakudya was the second runner-up.

Victoria Falls is the country’s youngest city having been conferred the city status in 2019.

The city is the country’s gateway and prime tourism destination.

“As a local authority, we have not failed and we delivered as expected, hence the recognition by the Government, which is one of the many awards the city has won, both at organisation and individual officers’ level,” said Mr Dube.

“All public officers now sign performance contracts and based on the outcome of the assessment, we were ranked and I came first runner-up. This was based on the deliverable output by me and the council, and the assessment was done by an independent consultant.”

He said the city has excelled in water provision despite challenges emanating from the effects of climate change and recurrent droughts.

The city supplies water for about 22 hours a day on average, but a US$4,4 million reservoir is under construction to enhance water supply to 24 hours a day.

“That makes us one of the best in the country. Our road network was upgraded and with the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme Funds, we did most of the budgeted work for 2023 and we have also managed to maintain our planned schedule for collecting refuse,” said Mr Dube.

“We resolved to collect twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays and our delivery is almost 100 percent, hence we rank far much better than most local authorities.

“Victoria Falls is undoubtedly the cleanest city in the country as a result of efforts by the city to clear refuse and work done by various stakeholders.”

“On general governance, we are up to date with audited financial reports as we submitted for 2022 and now we are working on the 2023 report,” he said.

Various stakeholders formed the Pristine Victoria Falls Society whereby each organisation adopted a street or section of the city to clean daily.

Chronicle adopted Hobson Street, complementing the national clean-up exercise, which has helped keep the city in its pristine state as a world heritage site and top notch tourism destination in line with green tourism.

“At an individual level, I am very excited on behalf of the council and Victoria Falls community. It is this community that put me on the pedestal to lead this council,” he said.

“I owe it to the community, management and co-operation of our stakeholders who have made my work easier by playing their part. It means a lot as it also helps us see areas of improvement as we continue being monitored.”

Mr Dube said Victoria Falls is the face of the country hence its services should be the epitome of beauty and cleanliness.

In 2018, Victoria Falls won the Best Road Maintenance of the Year Award from Megafest.

It was also the first runner-up in the Waste Management and Sanitation category, first runner-up in the Communication and Public Relations Personality of the Year and the second runner-up in the Best Urban Local Authority.- @ncubeleon