Cabinet approves draft policy on Local Govt reform

At these sessions, council members and staff are allowed to ask questions and voice concerns regarding the draft policy.

Rural Development and Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein said, “We have completed sensitisation sessions in six corporations so far and the remaining eight will be visited in the upcoming weeks.” Hosein also said the task force has also met with various government ministries which the corporations will have to liaise directly with, “once more responsibility is vested in them.” The task force is also working closely with the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs regarding the legislative amendments required for the reform to take full effect. The main ones include the updates to property tax legislation and the Municipal Police Regulations.

The latter deals with the establishment of constabularies of 100 municipal police officers in each of the 14 local government corporations.

This was one of the key campaign promises made by the People’s National Movement in the 2015 general election and 2016 local government election campaigns.

Hosein said the ministry will, “ also be holding further sensitisation sessions in each municipality for the burgesses to update them and seek their feedback and advice on how best to involve citizens more effectively.” He recalled last year the ministry held 15 public consultations on local government reform. “So we want people to now know that their voices are being heard and they are driving the changes that they want to see,” Hosein said.

“The main objective of local government reform is to engage all citizens on a greater level so that there are improvements in service delivery across the country.” The ministry indicated sensitisation exercises have also been held for key stakeholders such as trade unions, whose members will be directly affected by local government reform.