Persons With Disabilities Call for an Inclusive Council Budget.
Pauline Chateuka
City of Harare will soon commence Budget Consultations in a bid to get residents’ inputs and budget priorities for the year 2022. Every year in August council conducts consultation meetings as a way of drafting a budget that caters for residents needs.
Recently the Local Authority convened a virtual stakeholders consultative meeting with the budget advisory committee and civic society to map out engagement strategies for the 2022 budget consultations in view of the COVID- 19 pandemic. The budget consultations are expected to start this August and end in September.
Persons with disabilities have urged City of Harare to have strategies that will make it easier for them to participate and contribute in the consultations meetings. PWDs have requested for the provision of interpreters in sign language and booklets in braille so as to accommodate those with hearing and vision impairments.
“We urge City of Harare not to forget us because we also need to be included in the budget for that our special needs to be heard.” said Nyasha Nhau Ambassador for Disability at African Union Youth Council.
Stakeholders called upon the local authority to avail information on the 2021 budget performance to help residents in making informed decisions into the 2022 budget.
“We have been having challenges in accessing the information on-budget performance and the draft budget which makes it difficult to participate from an informed position ”, said Mr Malaya from the Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy.
Meanwhile Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) has called for inclusive budget consultation processes and the City to consider citizens input seriously during the budget consultations.
