Local Governance Trust

The Local Governance Community Capacity Building & Development Trust/ Local Governance Trust is a not for profit organisation founded in August 2006.

Elite Power Grab Endangering Public Health. @EndWaterPoverty @water_witness @ActionaidZim @Roddenberryfd #notowaterprivatization

We condemn the emerging culture at @cityofharare2 of making decisions and entering into agreements without Full Council Resolutions as prescribed in the Urban Council Act, this is bad local governance which promotes corruption and abuse of authority. newsday.co.zw/local-news/art…

BPRA today joins the globe in commemorating World NGO Day at the @nango world NGO Day commemoration symposium under the theme Empowering grassroots movements for sustainable Future. #empowerement

The Ministry of Local Government and the City of Harare are in tandem over the construction of houses on open public spaces reserved for recreation.@TIZim_info @EMAeep @TapiwaNyamukapa @Katazamhondoro @NicolaWatson13 @BMutebuka

Happening Now!! CHRA in partnership with the City of Harare is conducting an Environment and Climate Policy Write-Shop in Kadoma, with an aim to review and consolidate stakeholders input to the Draft Environment & Climate Policy. @CanEmbZimbabwe @water_witness @cityofharare2

NEW BOOK: Exactly five years ago, I announced the publication of my inaugural book: Seeking Urban Transformation: Alternative Urban Futures in Zimbabwe. Today I announce the publication of my second one: The Making of An African City: How Harare Grew over Centuries. A culmination of five years of writing and re-writing this book, started in Harare in Dec 2019 and finalized in Islamabad, Pakistan. This book was written in many cities: Harare, Punta Cana, Fairfax, Washington DC, Seoul, Yokohama, Tokyo, Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Lusaka, Turkana, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Addis, Freetown, Makeni, Kenema, Accra, Cancun, Amsterdam, Pretoria, Bangkok, Johannesburg, Mutare, Victoria Falls, Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. I underscore the origins, growth, status and prospects of Harare. I must confess that I enjoyed engaging with internal, published and unpublished material that shows the intricacies of how this city we call home was shaped for centuries. For the past decade, I have been asked by political actors to help with ideas that could transform this city. Now this book concludes with a set of strategies that any city administration could prioritize. I view Harare from an African perspective, and I am aware that there are many simplistic narratives churned from the north that views African cities as disorderly galore. We have to write from our own perspective! The book will be available in Harare bookstores by April 1, 2025. Enjoy the read and as usual this won’t be last! Essential reading for anyone interested in understanding @cityofharare2. Thanks to @ChraHarare PRAISE FOR THE MAKING OF AN AFRICAN CITY ‘In both colonial and contemporary Zimbabwe, preoccupation with the politics of rural land has overshadowed attention to urbanism and the urban question. In response, this book is a rich empirical narrative of the origins, growth, status and prospects of Harare, Zimbabwe’s primate city. Using ordinarily inaccessible archival and administrative data, it provides a sorely needed comprehensive account of how the post-2000 Fast Track Land Reform Programme unfolded in the city, the structural changes it occasioned as well as the opportunities and mammoth tasks required to make Harare the sustainable African sunshine city it aspires to be. Scholars are offered new material and a platform for further investigations and deeper theorization of post-colonial urbanization. It is a readable non-technical style presentation that will engage policy makers, bureaucrats, and ordinary citizens alike’ – Beacon Mbiba, Oxford Brooks University, UK. ‘A profoundly critical expose of Harare as a city in transition and transformation. The author traces Harare’s evolution since its founding spotlighting triggers for growth while, in the same vein, acknowledging episodes of tensions and regression. Deploying hard evidence from manifold accounts of concerted land, housing, and infrastructure experiences from across the city, the author draws out potential pathways for Harare’s future growth. A very engaging resource for anyone who is interested in what makes cities flourish!’ – George Masimba, Dialogue on Shelter, Zimbabwe. ‘This is an interesting delve into the development of Harare that spans decades from the establishment of the original city to current developments and the future of the city. The book offers a nuanced analysis of the political economy of the city drawing on the various roles of the diverse stakeholders and how their roles and interactions have evolved over time to produce the spatial formation that is Harare today. The author draws on secondary and primary data to unravel the complex and uneasy tensions and balancing acts that shape relationships between the state, the local authority, and ordinary citizens and how these play out to mold the city of Harare of today. Davison uses the themes of land governance, centre local relations, innovations, and politics to highlight how the power relations between the City of Harare and national government negotiate their positioning and deploy their power to exercise control over the formation of the city. The book uses case studies of specific examples to illustrate how this does not always work as well as the consequences. Interesting to note is the symbiotic and reinforcing relationship between the City of Harare and the Government of Zimbabwe in shaping the city’ - Gaynor Paradza, Public Affairs Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, and University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Thank you for standing with @cohsunshinecity in these difficult times. Centralisation has no place in a devolved system of governance. Govt should be focusing on helping @cohsunshinecity recapitalise it's solid waste management equipment. Residents too we need to pay our bills ontime.

@LocalT @bvtatrust @DiakoniaSverige @Perngoma @DiakoniaAfrica @DanChurchAidZW @communitypodium @CityofBulawayo @claudephuti Another element of focus at the #BudgetTraining constitutes Social Contracts. Councilors present have also attested to having utilised this method to gain trust from the residents. Social Contracts measure accountability and transparency in the provision to service delivery

@LocalT @bvtatrust @DiakoniaSverige @Perngoma @DiakoniaAfrica @DanChurchAidZW Citizen Expectations from their Councillors: 🔹Attend full Council meetings to articulate Residents' Ward development needs & aspirations. 🔹Facilitate infrastructural development & maintenance of Council property in the Ward. 🔹Monitor & report on service provision in the Ward.

Budgeting Cycle (Zimbabwean Timeline) includes the following: 🔹M&E and Development Planning Stage (Jan - March) 🔹Budget Preparation Stage (Apr - June) 🔹Budget Formulation Stage (Jul - Sep) 🔹Budget Implementation Stage (Oct - Dec) #Uhlelo @LocalT @bvtatrust @DiakoniaSverige

Citizen Expectations from Councilors @byopra @ChraHarare @HarareResidents @cohsunshinecity @DanChurchAidZW @MoLGPWZim @InfoMinZW

A budget is a cycle with different stages and at every stage there are actions that must be done - Mr. Matumbike @byopra @ChraHarare @CityofBulawayo @DanChurchAidZW

Happening now: @byopra and @LocalT are carrying out a training workshop on Participatory Budgeting, Gender Budgeting and Effective Revenue Collection with Bulawayo City Council Ward Councillors. #Uhlelo @CityofBulawayo @bvtatrust @Perngoma @communitypodium @DiakoniaSverige

The training seeks to provide Councilors with a functional awareness of the local govt system; knowledge & skills to mobilize citizens to participate in Civic affairs; & social accountability knowledge & skills for effective & accountable representation @byopra @DanChurchAidZW

Today the LGT in collaboration with @byopra is facilitating the City of Bulawayo Councilors Induction Training @DanChurchAidZW @ChraHarare @HarareResidents @CityofBulawayo

Mr. Akili Director of @ChraHarare presenting on the Inclusive Approach to Devolution implementation. He argued for the need for reforms on accounting systems and operating systems across all tiers of govt to enhance transparency & accountability @MoLGPWZim @ZimTreasury @byopra

Perm Ngoma Director of @byopra presenting on Residents' Devolution implementation aspirations. Key to her submission was the need for a legal framework guiding the disbursement of Devolution funds @DanChurchAidZW @HarareResidents @ParliamentZim @ChraHarare @nangozimbabwe

"The transfer of Devolution funds to LAs have created dependency among LAs on @ZimTreasury and this has killed the drive to raise domestic resources to fund service delivery" - Dr. Madhekeni @byopra @ChraHarare @HarareResidents @DanChurchAidZW @KudzaiChatiza2

Allocations vs Disbursements of #Devolution funds to Local Authorities in Zimbabwe. Less than 5 percent of Devolution funds are being disbursed to Local Authorities and this is impacting service provision. @LocalT @cohsunshinecity @byopra @SilveiraHouse64 @ParliamentZim @MoJLPA

Today, , @ChraHarare in partnership with @LocalT, @byopra and @SilveiraHouse64 is conducting a Policy Dialogue with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government.