With the support of CLGF and the United Councils Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ), and funded by the EU, local councils in Zimbabwe are creating a closer relationship between residents and their local authorities. By introducing a Citizens’ Participation Framework, they aim to increase opportunities for residents to contribute to local development and improved service delivery. The Framework is based on a number of local government studies to identify the most important issues for residents and the best ways of delivering services. A series of workshops has been planned to allow officials from rural and urban councils to discuss the best ways to enable citizens to play a part in development issues.

Speaking at one of the workshops, CLGF Project Manager Mr Leopold Bhoroma explained that the initiative was in line with the Constitution where the role of the local authority is to lead on delivering development, but it is the people who should define what they actually want. He called it a transformation for local authorities from their previous role as an administrative body, to becoming an instrument that actually delivers the change and at the very heart of development.

The aim is that this new concept will create a social contract between councils and eliminate conflict.