…Industry and commerce snub budget consultation meeting

Ngoni Dapira

MUTARE Informal Traders Association (MITA) members have cried foul on being sidelined in the City of Mutare 2020 supplementary budget consultations and 2021 budget.

This was said on Tuesday during the City of Mutare 2020 supplementary budget and 2021 budget consultation for the Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and informal sector held at Mutare hall. Whilst the proposed 120 percent to 350 percent increment on miscellaneous tariffs was welcomed, it was the exclusion of service infrastructure expansion projects for informal traders and SMES in the budget that disappointed them.

The MITA members who were present accused the local authority of being more engrossed with immediate concerns of survival such as increasing revenue collections and paying salaries, forgoing key infrastructure investment projects to improve the working spaces of people in the SMEs and informal sector.

MITA president Itai Kariparire said both the proposed supplementary and 2021 budgets were inconsiderate of the plight of SMEs and informal traders who are now a big cash cow for the local authority in the wake of low capacity utilisation in the large-scale manufacturing sector. He also implored the local authority to be more efficient and less bureaucratic in its implementation of developmental projects, especially when they concern livelihoods.

“I really appreciate all of the things that you highlighted in your proposal but there is an issue which is not pleasing to me. Most of the things presented in your proposal just touch on cushioning us as residents but not as SMEs and informal traders. I thought I would hear issues such as council immediately proposing to facelift our shack vending stalls at Chidzere flea market into modern, smart vending stalls. This is what we had anticipated to hear coming here, but it seems we are not in your plans and you do not want to build decent working spaces for us. We are only in your plans to be siphoned of more money from renting you spaces. I think this is unfair, especially after you (council) have admitted that we are now a major source of revenue for you,” said Kariparire, who heads the mother body of all the informal traders associations in the city, an arm which was launched in February by the Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba.

Kariparire added that from a citizen perspective, the budgeting process is the main avenue to influence funding priorities of a local authority.  He said it is a process in which citizens have the opportunity to make  local  authorities  place their issues as core priorities of the municipality, of which as SMEs and informal sector their concerns had not been incorporated in the anticipated supplementary budget and 2021 budget.

Sakubva Flea Market chairman Rudolf Muturika said as an association they are prepared to enter build operate and transfer arrangements given that the local authority has liquidity and fiscal constraints. He urged the 2021 budget to focus more on public and private partnerships which would augment production and business for the SMEs sector rather than the current situation which he said is retrogressive towards the growth of the SMEs and informal sector.

Munyaradzi Rubaya from the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Manicaland office said the biggest challenge with central government systems was late disbursement of funds towards projects. He also concurred that the budget does not speak to the economies on the ground, especially on the plight of the SMEs and informal sector.

“SMEs are the new economic drivers but if you go to the budgets of local authorities there is very little resources channeled towards improving the working space of SMEs. As a result our SMEs remain operating in the informal sector because they are working in unconducive places…Our people for instance at the Green Market, there is a lot of potential, but development of the place into a modern, attractive industrial hub is long overdue. Why don’t you consider channeling all the revenue that you collect there towards face-lifting the place first?” he said.

Rubaya added that the local authority should put up modern a shopping complex for vendors in town such as ‘The Village’ kiosks in Mutare, which are appealing to upmarket customers which helps boost the business ventures of  traders.

Quickly interjecting after the recommendations by MITA representatives, City of Mutare town clerk Joshua Maligwa concurred that there was a gap in their budget proposal presentation by the finance director Blessing Chafesuka, but assured the SMEs that their concerns were in their plans under the Urban Renewal project, which was supposed to take off in April, but was derailed by the incumbent covid-19 pandemic.

SME and Informal traders during the meeting.

“I concur with the president (Kariparire). It’s a learning curve to our Finance committee. It focused more on the residents concerns as done always before, but did not factor in your sectoral concerns. When dealing with CZI, ZNCC, SMEs we should dwell on the specific concerns of the sector during budget presentations. Let’s use the shotgun approach…There is a lot of things we are doing and the presentation indeed did not applaud the SMEs for being a good example of one sector that is contributing significantly towards our revenue flows. The truth of the matter is we cannot operate without you SMEs,” said Maligwa.

He however also urged local representatives from the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development to liaise more with the local authority to secure any developmental projects or grants, especially infrastructure projects that can help grow the sector in the city and province at large.

Maligwa also bemoaned the legacy issues bedeviling the local authority since he took over in 2017 which he said backdate as far as 2000. “At the moment we cannot borrow because we are in arrears but we are working towards this and intend to clear all arrears by end of this year,” he said.

Maligwa said under the Urban Renewal project the first projects would be Green Market and Sakubva Flea Market then others will follow as they intend to turn Mutare into a smart city, which means upgrading all infrastructure in accordance with international smart city models. He said for the Green Market project, already there are more than five investors interested, mentioning Banc ABC and the National Building Society as some of the interested investors.

City of Mutare Housing and Community Services director Emma Chivaraidze-Mandiziba Mandiziba also indicated that the refurbishment and construction projects under the Urban Renewal Project launched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa last year had not been mentioned in the budget proposal because the project is now under national project status.

The separate meetings for residents, SMEs and Informal traders were scheduled after the meeting for industry and commerce which was supposed to take place on Monday at the same venue.  However, the meeting for industry and commerce representatives which was supposed to start at 2pm did not take place after only one business representative turned up. City of Mutare public relations officer Spren Mutiwi said they will reschedule the meeting to ensure they get the inputs of all stakeholders.

“This is important and we will reschedule that meeting. We now want to improve on our engagement thrust and this is the first port of call for us, budget consultations. That is why we decided on the sectoral approach. We engaged ZNCC (Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce) and CZI (Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries) to communicate with its members about the meeting but we will follow up. We need each other to make this city great once again,” said Mutiwi.

Municipal budgeting is conducted in accordance with the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29: 15) and the Public Financial Management Act (Chapter 22: 19). Section 219 of the Urban Councils Act (3) (a) and (b) gives residents and ratepayer’s powers to object proposed tariffs for reconsideration. This provision is further strengthened by Section (288) (2) (a) which stipulates that, “When the estimates presented in terms of subsection (1), the council shall ensure that copies of the estimates are forthwith made available for inspection by the public.”

According to a 2018 survey conducted by the ‘We Pay You Deliver’ consortium titled, “Cities in distress: Municipal budgeting and financial management survey report,” more than 65 percent of respondents do not understand the budgeting process. It further states that it is often normal tendency for residents to raise off-budget issues during budget consultation meetings. “Budget consultation meetings should not be entirely seen as platforms to prioritise issues into the budget. Rather, they  should  also  be  taken  as  an  accountability  platform for  scrutinising  the  previous  budget estimates versus planned activities and actual expenditures,” reads the report.