By Flata Kavinga
Zibagwe Rural District Council (ZRDC) chief executive officer Farayi D. Machaya has called on the local authority to prioritise efficient and responsive service delivery to ensure residents are satisfied with the council’s services.
Speaking during a full council meeting Machaya said the implementation of the Minimum Service Delivery Standards under Statutory Instrument 69 of 2026 requires local authorities to meet agreed performance benchmarks while responding promptly to the needs of residents.
He said client satisfaction should be at the centre of council operations.
“We are now expected to deliver services to our citizenry that conform to set and agreed minimum standards. Key to this expectation is that we should ensure that our clients are happy with our deliverables. This means that we need to uphold and timeously respond to client needs, requests and applications,” said Machaya.
He said the standards would be monitored through an annual online citizen scorecard survey in which at least 5,000 people from each local authority would be randomly interviewed to assess service delivery.
Machaya said the statutory instrument provides incentives for high-performing local authorities while also prescribing penalties for poor performance.
He said officers and councils that perform well would be rewarded, while those failing to meet the required standards could face written warnings, restrictions from attending workshops, downgrading or other disciplinary measures.
Machaya urged council officials to embrace principles of responsiveness, teamwork, integrity, transparency, accountability and efficiency in carrying out their duties.
“This calls for a serious consideration that we are all here to give service delivery to the people of Zibagwe in an efficient and co-ordinated manner,” he said.
He added that these principles should guide the behaviour, decisions and priorities of both individuals and the organisation, describing them as “non-negotiable standards” for effective service delivery.
