Lupane District Committee engagement
On the 15th of September 2020, Women’s Institute for Leadership Development attended the Lupane District Coordinating Committee at the invitation of the District Development Coordinator. The purpose of the meeting was to appraise district stakeholders on the pace of development in the area. Present were NGOs, civil society organizations and representatives of government departments. Below are the key highlights from the government department presentations which are relevant to the organization’s work. Captured is also the sentiments from stakeholders and potential, issues to pursue.
- ZINWA engaging in the expansion of water infrastructure in the district. This includes the construction of reservoirs to cater for the growing student population at Lupane State University.
- There are a number of pipe bursts in the area which need to be attended to in order to ensure that water wastage is reduced.
- 578 stands already connected with running water although there are pipe bursts being experienced and the poaching of raw water
- The road network in Lupane is in a bad state and there in a dire need for rehabilitation to enable ease of access of goods, passengers. Case in point: trucks carrying food aid and farming inputs were stuck for days due to bad sandy roads.
- DDF reported that they are experiencing manpower challenges in their quest to patch potholes around the district
- There was a concern on the shortage of civil servants accommodation which came with allegations of some profiteering from sub-letting the houses
- Through the report from social services, it was noted that between April and September the district has recorded 28 rape cases, 93 cases of physical violence, 1 GBV murder case and 4 cases of neglect – we need to request previous statistics in order to better analyze the statistics.
- It was reported that the malaria outbreak was effectively dealt with before any lives were claimed and that the district has to date recorded 23 Covid 19 cases and no deaths
- The District Schools Inspector reported that a total of 12000 pupils comprised of grade 7, form 4 and forms shall be going back to school. He highlighted that district office only has 14 340 masks against a Ministry of Education of a minimum of 8 masks per child.
- In terms of food security, it was reported that drought relief was cut by 50%, leaving a number of families vulnerable.
- Lupane Local Board Secretary reported that they are facing challenges with sewer reticulation and refuse collection. He said the local authority has been failing to secure fuel in RTGS.
- He further highlighted that they need about $105 000 for public lighting
- LLB currently has no landfill site and this has brewed conflict with EMA
- Kusile RDC reported that they have received ZWL6.8m out of an expected ZWL14m from devolution funds.
- They reported that they have opted to change priorities from initially wanting to buy a tipper truck a tipper truck to constructing classroom blocks in five out of an expected 8 schools.
- He highlighted that the local authority was facing challenges accounting for the devolution funds but said they would be able to finally acquit this week.
- In terms of audit, it was reported that audits are only on the year 2016 and that the biggest challenges has been audit fees.