CHIPINGE RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL CIVIC AWARENESS PROGRAMME FACILITATED BY THE CHIPINGE RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL ACTION TEAM CHIPINGE COUNCIL RURAL DISTRICT 0 TABLE OF CONTENTS Background to Manual 2 Acknowledgements 3 Abbreviations and Acronyms 5 Terms and Concepts 6 Preamble 7 Starting the Training workshop 9 Background and Introduction to Rural District Councils 11 Division of Functions and Introduction to Rural District Councils 14 Development Structures of Local Government 20 Council Finances 22 How Central Government works with Council 24 NGOs Operating in Chipinge District 31 Enhancing Service Delivery by RDCs 38 Recommendations 44 Appendices 45 1 BACKGROUND TO MANUAL The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in conjuction with the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing started implementing a pilot programme to improve local governance in six local authorities viz. City of Gweru, Kariba, Masvingo, Gwanda Municipalities and Chipinge and Mutoko Rural District Councils in 2001. The USAID engaged a firm of Consultants, “The Urban Institute” with international, regional and local experts in the fields of municipal finance and local governance to implement the programme. The main objective of the programme was to support the Ministry of Local Government National Housing and public works thrust for well managed and accountable local authorities that fully consult and take input from their citizens in the decision making process by: 1. Developing local authority capacity for service delivery through providing technical assistance to improve management capacity by facilitating the training of staff and councilors in consultative and participatory practices with a view to ensure transparency and accountability at local level. 2. Improving citizenship participation in local government through enhanced citizen’s participation in the economic and political decision making. 3. Assisting local authorities in their financial information management systems with particular emphasis on the data necessary to improve the collection, management, use and flow of funds. Towards achieving objective number 2, the Urban Institute under contract with the USAID, invited applications from Civil Society Organisations to support representation of citizen participation in the local authority decisionmaking. Their contract was won by the Manicaland Development Association, an NGO operating in Manicaland. In the case of the Chipinge Rural District Council it was felt that for meaningful consultation and participation to take place, the citizens who are mainly rural had to be exposed to a civic awareness programme which would enable them to appreciate the structure and operations of Council. 2 This manual was intended for the training of ward facilitators who in turn was to use it to teach the communities at village level. However the programme ended after the training of the ward facilitators but before the training of the communities. In 2010, eight years later the Chipinge Rural District Council was fortunate to be included in the Local Governance and Citizen Participation Project being implemented by the Civic Forum on Housing along with three other rural district councils which are Mutoko, Nyaminyami and Tsholotsho . The overall objective of the project is to promote democratic, effective, transparent and accountable local governance in Rural District Councils in Zimbabwe through the engagement of all stakeholders and the communities in particular. It was felt once again civic education was the first step. With that in mind the original manual of 2004 had to be reviewed in the light of changes that had taken place in the past seven years. This booklet is intended to be used in the civic awareness by 30 ward facilitators who shall be trained before going back to their wards to teach communities at 120 village centres. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Special thanks goes to the first funding partner the USAID for financial assistance and the implementing partners the Urban Institute for their technical support. Gratitude also goes to the MDA staff, and the District Development Committee members for their valuable contributions and comments in developing this manual Special acknowledgements are due to the Chipinge Rural District Council Chief Executive Officer, Mr Mundoma and Council staff for reviewing and editing the first draft in 2004 reviewing and updating this manual in 2011. References . Rural District Council Act Chapter 29:13 1996 . Rural District Councils’ Training Modules 1983 . Local Governance Participation – ACPD 2000 . Governance and leadership 2000 . Civic Education of Rural District Council Elections 2000 . Traditional Leaders Act Chapter 29:17 1998 Finally the European Union through the Civic Forum on Housing under the Local Governance Citizen Participation is thanked for supporting the Chipinge Rural District Council in reprinting the book and the civic education programme which is scheduled to begin with the training of civic awareness ward facilitators who in turn will teach communities at village level. 4 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS DAAC District Aids Action Committee DA District Administrator CBM Community Based Management CEO Chief Executive Officer CRDC Chipinge Rural District Council CTC Chipinge Town Council CSO Civil Society Organization DDF District Development Fund EMA Environmental Management Agency EPSD Enhanced Participatory Service Delivery HR Human Rights MDA Manicaland Development Association MP Member of Parliament NGO Non Governmental Organisation RDC Rural District Council RDDC Rural District Development Committee UC Urban Council USAID United States Agency for International Development WADCO Ward Development Committee VIDCO Village Development Committee ZILGA Zimbabwe Local Government Association 5 TERMS AND CONCEPT Bill of Rights A statement of fundamental rights of any group of people such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (CCPR). Council area The area for which a Council has been established. That is the length and breath of a certain Council. Rural District Council Means Rural District Council established in terms of RDC Act (Chapter 29:13) Councillor Person elected or appointed to be part of the governing or policymaking body of a Rural District Council. Gender Socially constructed differences between men and women based on shared expectations and norms with a society of female and male behavior, characteristics and roles. The term defines what they do, how they behave and how they are perceived, and how they relate to each other. Gender is not synonymous with sex. Human Rights These are inalienable entitlements conferred and protected by the state to all persons Insolvent Not able to pay one’s debts Local Authority Means a Municipal Council, Town Council, local body, or Rural District Council for as long as any such body remains in existence. Voter Means a person who is entitled to vote and is on the voters roll for a ward of a Council area Transparency Openness Royalty Payment to the owner of Land for the extraction of a natural resource 6 PREAMBLE Government embarked on a decentralization programme with the intention of giving local authorities power to develop their own areas and to make decisions on certain issues that affect them. This resulted in the establishment of Local authorities – Rural District Councils for rural areas and urban councils for towns and cities. Rates of development in the various districts of Zimbabwe are not the same. Some districts have huge natural resources endowments which generate revenue ready to be ploughed back into the area development while others suffer resource scarcity. Even where the resources base is rich, local inhabitants may continue to suffer if wrong priorities are addressed. In some cases residents or communities have tended to blame Rural District Councils for not working at all or corrupt activities. Other residents then start boycotting the payments due to Council and sometimes sabotaging Council activities. This has resulted in little or no development taking place in such districts. It is possible that most of the conflicts between RDCs, Civil Society Organisations and residents may arise from lack of understanding of each other’s role, responsibilities and obligations. It is important for residents to appreciate how Councils work and where they get their resources. Councils should also know the needs and wants of residents and other players such as Civil Society Organisations, traditional leaders, churches and private sector, etc for effective service delivery. This manual is therefore a guideline to be used by Councillors and ward facilitators and other community leaders or representatives on how to conduct training workshops on civic awareness programmes on the structure and functions of Rural District Councils, the rights and obligations of citizens as well as the important fact that the citizens own the Council. 7 The Manual provides guidelines on o Objectives of the specific session o Materials required for the session o Possible workshop delivery methodology o Learning points/talking points The following symbols will be used to guide the facilitators:- Group discussion Key points Learning notes P.Q Plenary questions Case Studies Role - play 8 SESSION ONE: Starting the training workshop Objectives of the Session To ensure that every participant is aware of the objectives of the training workshop, made comfortable and appreciates how the workshop