Zimbabwe Christian Alliance

Gweru community benefits from ACPP

Zimbabwe Christian Alliance has been commended for its effort to help residents of Gweru to make meaningful participation in community development processes as well as improvement of service delivery at the City of progress.

Speaking during an exchange visit that was being hosted by the Local Advocacy Champions in Masvingo, the deputy mayor of Gweru, Councillor Cleopas Shiri said the Accountability and Community Participation Project which had been running for the past three years did not benefit the community only but the local authority as well.

“As Gweru city council we have benefited very much from Zimbabwe Christian Alliance programmes. What we have witnessed is a clear new trajectory that was brought by the coming of ZCA to Gweru,” he said.

Cllr Shiri said the LACs brought an urgency to attend water bursts within the local authorities. He said the LACs were dotted around the city and they were the ones raising alarm to the city council on the water bursts in their areas.

“They made sure that council attends to problems that the residents have especially on the issues that council is supposed to provide service for example issues to do with water provisions. They played a greater role in alarming the authorities of the challenges that the community was facing in terms of water availability and bursts. The council would quickly attend to those issues,” he said.

Part of the training that was done by ZCA included budget formulation and tracking which enabled the community to understand the processes that local authorities go through when coming up with their budgets.

“We realised that after training on budget formulation and tracking, residents were eager to attend the budget processes that were being done by the local authority. The quality of contributions from the residents who had been trained also improved as they had knowledge and understood how budgets are done,” said Cllr Shiri.

For many years, the city had some areas with perennial sewer blockages and residents had given up on reporting the bursts.

“When it comes to sewer, the LACs helped in pushing the authorities to deal with perennial blockages that had been there for a long time. Some of the areas no longer experience sewer bursts like before,” he said.

Councillor Shiri applauded ZCA for creating platforms for engagement that helped the local authority reach out to a wider audience. He said programmes that were done on the radio helped to clear out some misconceptions that the community had against the council.

“Radio platforms helped in sensitising the community on different issues such as water and it helped us clear some misconceptions that the community had on the local authority especially on water provision,” he said.

Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, ZCA opted to use radio programmes to engage with service providers such as the Gweru City Council, Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) and the Covid-19 Taskforce.

The ZCA COVID-19 Awareness Drive gathers momentum in Masvingo

The world is battling with the COVID-19 and different organisations, and churches in conjunction with the government are fighting tooth and nail to avert the situation. The Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) through its Local Advocacy Champions (LAC) has joined hands with the Ministry of Health and Child Care, The Zimbabwe Republic Police and Government to fight the CoronaVirus.

The ZCA uses radio, newspapers and public announcements to raise awareness and in encouraging people to vaccinate against COVID-19. During the LAC exchange visit, the Masvingo COVID-19 Taskforce Spokesperson, Mr. Rodgers Irimai (pictured) made a presentation showing strides that have been made in the Masvingo Province.

Mr. Irimai said there is a systematized approach in Masvingo being used to fight COVID-19. There are COVID-19 Taskforce Subcommittees namely, Rapid Response, lockdown Enforcement Resource Mobilization, Human resources, Public Works and Risk communication. These bring their efforts together to fight COVID-19.

“We fight COVID-19 through engaging stakeholder participation in disseminating COVID-19 messages,” said Irimai. He also pointed out that they spearhead COVID-19 awareness programs on radio, newspapers and the internet. This coordination of media publications is meant to dispel myths and misinformation about COVID-19.

Recently, Mr. Irimai, joined the ZCA COVID-19 Awareness Drive which was held at Mucheke Shopping Centre to spread the message on COVID-19 regulations and precautionary measures. Mucheke area has a collection of different businesses and the informal sector being the dominant one. So, mega phones were used to spread the message.

In his speech during the LAC Exchange program, Mr. Irimai commended the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance for the good work they do in Masvingo District.

“The Zimbabwe Christian Alliance came in handy in psycho-social support. Our reach as government was at times limited because of resource constraints, but now when partners come in, especially when we are talking about reaching out to the people, the organisation (ZCA) was very very important to us and is still important to us. We were able to facilitate training so that the leaders, the clergy would be able to know. We have done training in Masvingo urban and Zaka with the leaders. We know that the leaders have a following; the church has the largest following. So, if you reach church leaders, you know that you have reached many people.” Said Irimai

ZCA has used radio to communicate messages on COVID-19. Radio has a bigger reach and allows people to participate through calling or writing in. In Masvingo, it used Hevoi FM.

“Live programs were organised on Hevoi FM. We had several of them. We have a local radio (Hevoi FM) which is doing a great job. Through the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance we have been able to utilise the opportunity to reach out to listeners who are in our Province”, said Irimai.

Chegutu District benefits from ZCA advocacy efforts

The Zimbabwe Christian Alliance has 30 Local Advocacy Champions (LACs) in the Chegutu District that spearhead programs on advocacy and accountability. Efforts by LAC have been noticed and felt by the Chegutu Town council. Speaking during the LAC exchange program the Mayor, His Worship Henry Muchatibaya (Pictured) reiterated the work done by LAC and was grateful to the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA).

Like most towns in Zimbabwe, Chegutu also faces water shortages and reticulation issues. However, after advocacy programs by LAC, Chegutu Town Council took great steps in easing those problems.

“We rehabilitated the water treatment plant. We used US$812 194 for upgrading the water treatment plant in 2019.” said the Mayor

The old suburbs received a shot in the arm when they had the sewers system replaced with new ones. Burst sewers have been a perennial problem in Chegutu town; especially in the old high density suburbs where there are big populations that put a strain on the already old sewer system.

“We also replaced the sewer line in the old locations called the C and the P section. This had a cost of US$67 000 to replace a 2.5 kilometer sewer line. In 2020, we replaced the sewer trunk main line in the high density suburb covering 2.6 kilometers, from the sewer ponds to Chakari Road. We also purchased six sewer pumps, whose cost was RTGS$2,244 000. We also purchased a PVC sewer reticulation pipe with a total cost of US$2.570 000”, the Mayor Said.

Incessant power outages have always been a problem in Chegutu and the Mayor said a generator was purchased for the Chegutu Town House.

“We also purchased a 33 kilo-volts generator at a cost of US$29 138 for our town house,” said the Mayor.

Most of the roads in Zimbabwe are over forty years in use and are mottled with potholes. In addition, new roads must be constructed in new suburbs. In Chegutu efforts have been made to build and rehabilitate its road network.

“We had the graveling of Kaguvi and Chegutu East roads, and those are new suburbs. Roads that received attention are those in the CBD to the tune of US$90 000 in 2019.”

Chinengundu Clinic was also renovated and it has since been adopted as a COVID-19 centre.

“We also refurbished Chinengundu clinic. It is a poly clinic and we pumped out US$2 million. Chinengundu Clinic is now a COVID-19 isolation centre. We used US$2 which we received from the government out of the devolution funds”, said the Mayor.

The Mayor also stated that they still have challenges with non-payment of rates, but through advocacy done by the LAC clergy, there has been a marked improvement and an increase in bill payments.

“Our people are not honouring their dues. Our people are not paying, but through Pastors from the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, they are trying to make everyone understand where we are headed. We recorded an increase in monthly rates payments in Chegutu which is a positive move that we endeavour as the local authority to continue so that we also improve our services”, said the Mayor.

The Mayor applauded the work done by LAC. The LACs are involved in community engagement and holding stakeholders to account. He added that this work should not stop in 2021, but they should continue doing it in other places as well.

“These people are doing a great job; they stand for us as council. When you see them speaking to the public, you might think they are the town clerk. When people don’t understand our budget, these people (LAC) explain it to the public. I would like to thank the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance for the job well done. This should not end in 2021, because here in Chegutu we have seen a positive change”, ended the Mayor.

A three year journey with the LACs

In the past three years Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) had been actively involved in advocacy and accountability programs through its Local Advocacy Champions (LACs). The objective was to capacitate women and youth in community church groups to mobilise communities and advocate for socio-economic rights and accountability in Five Districts.

The Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) operated in five districts, namely: Nkayi, Gweru, Chegutu, Beitbridge, and Masvingo. 150 LAC members were trained on issues such as engaging their stakeholders and holding them to account. The major target groups included: church leaders, traditional leaders, elected officials, women and youths.

The LAC members organised engagement meetings with different stakeholders to tackle topical issues that affect their communities, which include service delivery.

Stakeholders that were engaged throughout the three (3) years include City Councils or municipalities, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA), the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Rural District Councils, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), the Social welfare department and many others.

Zimbabwe still has sticking issues that need advocacy and holding leaders to account. Such issues include poor service delivery, rutted roads, and chronic burst sewers. When the Local Advocacy Champions (LAC) engaged authorities some cases where attended to and collectivism was used in bringing solutions to those problems.

Notably, the Nkayi ablution services at the bus terminus have been finished and are now being used by commuters boarding at the bus terminus.

The Mayor of Chegutu, His Worship Henry Muchatibaya noted that there was an increase in bill payments due to some of the engagements spearheaded by the LACs.

“We recorded an increase in monthly rates payments in Chegutu which is a positive move that we endeavour as the local authority to continue so that we also improve our services”, said the Mayor

These success stories and more were shared at the LAC Exchange Program in Masvingo. The road has not been easy, but there has been an amicable relation between LAC and the stakeholders proving the improvement in relationships between the community and the stakeholders. In Gweru for example, before LAC engagements, there was minimal communication between local authorities and the church community on how to regulate utility services and rate payments in the districts, but that has since been improved.

Broadcast radio shows became instrumental in promulgating advocacy messages and live engagements with duty bearers. Radio programs were hosted on Central Radio, Hevoi, Khulumani FM, ZBC National FM.

In a bid to fight the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, the ZCA managed to distribute PPEs to its LAC members. Additionally in all five districts, there were COVID-19 awareness programmes, code named: The COVID-19 Awareness Drive.

Local authorities encouraged to embrace digitalization

Technology is moving at breakneck speed. What might have been a great tool yesterday might wake up obsolete today and of no use at all. As such, local authorities have been urged to digitize their systems for the ease of communication and doing business with their clients.

Speaking during a Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, Local Advocacy Champions (LAC) exchange visit in Masvingo, the acting Nkayi Rural District Council CEO, Mr. Lawrence Mudimba said it was crucial for councils to adapt to the new systems that have come up with digitalization for the ease of doing business.

“We are living in a digital era where many services are now being done online with less paperwork being done on a day to day working environment,” he said.

Mr. Mudimba said their council was working on migrating to the use of the internet so that their services are not only available to the people in their locality but to those who are Nkayi residents that are out of the country.

“We have residents of Nkayi who are based in the diaspora and wish to contribute towards the development of their communities but do not have ways to reach out. This will not only help us reach out for financial contributions, but it will also help showcase the work that we are doing as a local authority,” he said.

He mentioned that there are some social media networks that can be used to the advantage of the council as there are benefits that come with it. He said channels such YouTube that have rewards which are lucrative and encourage you to do more work.

“I understand that when you have a YouTube channel, and you reach a certain target you are rewarded. We are also looking at that route not only to get rewards but to effectively reach out to the community,” he said.

The Zimbabwe Christian Alliance board member, Mrs. Susan Moyo said she was happy to hear that local authorities are also looking into digitalization which is in compliance with the education sector.

“Being a teacher myself, I am encouraged when I see that it is not only us who are looking into a future that is digitalized. Technology is fast overtaking everything in the world hence the need for us as a country to adapt to the new ways of doing things,” said Mrs. Moyo.

In Zimbabwe, some rural areas are still outside the digital grid. This has made those rural areas to leg behind technologically.

Last year, there were 6.95 billion mobile users worldwide according to Statista. It estimates that it will hit over 7 billion users by the end of the year. Worldwide consumers have considerably moved toward online channels and Zimbabwe Rural District Councils should follow suit.

Local Advocacy Champions (LAC) Exchange Program- Masvingo

Local Advocacy Champions from five districts of the country gathered at Masvingo for an exchange visit meant to share the success of their interventions carried out in their respective areas.

The exchange visit which marked the end of the Accountability and Community Participation Project was an eye opener to hubs as they shared the different experiences and perspectives from their areas and the different methodologies used to produce their desired results.

The project has been running since 2018 in Beitbridge, Masvingo, Nkayi, Chegutu and Gweru. Throughout the three years, the LAC were trained on engaging different service providers as well as holding them to account.

Speaking during the exchange visit, Mrs. Eunice Dube, a LAC member from Beitbridge mentioned that the project has helped them realise their rights. She said they also learnt the importance of having engagement processes that bear positive fruits.

“As it is today, we came all the way from Beitbridge with the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Matabeleland South spokesperson to our exchange programme which is a clear picture of the relationship that we have with our stakeholders,'' she said.

From Masvingo, Reverend Tichavaka Hlomayi said one of the successes of the three year training was lobbying their local authority to build effective communication strategies with the community in terms of sharing service delivery issues as well as getting feedback from the community.

“We are glad that the authorities now have a mechanism of sending information to the community which is crucial. This helps in keeping the community informed as well sending feedback to the service provider so that they know what to improve and where they are excelling,” he said.

On the first day of the exchange programme, the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) board treasurer, Mr. Jonah Gokova handed over certificates to the LAC members who were trained throughout the three-year span of the project.

“We are pleased with the work that the LAC structures have been doing in their communities. It is evident that the training they received was effective and we hope that they continue doing such great work in the community,” he said.

Follow us: @zcalliance1