'Vehicle licensing to be decentralised'

Government is mulling reinstating the collection of vehicle licence fees to local authorities to help them bankroll road maintenance, the National Assembly has been told.

The fees are currently being collected by the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara), which then disburses road maintenance fees to local authorities on an allocative basis.

Responding to a question posed by Kambuzuma MP Willias Madzimure, who sought to understand the possibility of allowing local authorities to retain licence fees they get from vehicles within their municipalities, Local Government minister July Moyo said during a question without notice answer session in Parliament last week: "The issue of vehicle licences and how the collection of fees has become centralised and is a matter that is being discussed to make sure that the money that is collected goes to the councils in accrual basis rather than on an allocative basis."

Madzimure had said since Zinara took over, "that is when we started seeing the continuous deterioration of roads".

Moyo said "a separation between fuel levy and the collection that is related to vehicle licences is what we want to disaggregate."

Moyo said he had asked councils to provide statistics of vehicles registered within their boundaries.