Private sector participation in the delivery of municipal services Kitwe

Activities of Local Governments in Zambia are derived from Section 6 of the Local Government Act Chapter 281 of the Laws of Zambia. These activities are many and varied. A local authority may discharge any of the functions within its area. The Act allows local authorities to enter into contract for the discharge of any of its functions. Zambia, like any other government around the world, is in the process of reviewing its obligations to its citizens. A common theme is private sector participation as partners in the provision of services. Rather than maintaining all the functions of providing municipal services, local authorities through the proposed decentralisation policy are expected to delegate responsibilities to private sector participants. In this report a review of the current Kitwe City Council functions has been made with the aim of identifying core and non-core activities. The review revealed that the Kitwe City Council is striving to perform its functions and has accordingly addressed the strategic plan for this purpose. The guiding mission statement is to improve the quality of life of the residents through the development of the sound economic environment and to provide quality social services and infrastructure. The major objectives of the strategic plan include: - making the Council more responsible and effective in meeting the needs of the stake holders; - ensuring quality representation by attracting individuals of good standing to vie for councillorship and; - developing and motivating the human resources. The Council has employed well-qualified human resources in all the departments. However, the current human resource is characterised by low morale and poor motivation arising from lack of resources to implement good management practices.