BCC starts 2025 budget review consultations

The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has begun its 2025 budget review consultations with residents and stakeholders, with calls growing louder for the local authority to take community input seriously in shaping service delivery priorities.

The consultation meetings, which kicked off this week and will run until the end of July, are meant to gather residents' views on how the city's finances should be allocated in the coming year.

Bulawayo town clerk Christopher Dube confirmed the schedule and said the process is central to ensuring that council plans are informed by citizens' concerns.

However, civic leaders and residents are urging the city not to treat the exercise as a box-ticking formality. Bulawayo-based development practitioner Thembelani Dube emphasized that the consultation process must be more than symbolic and should be rooted in the specific needs of each ward.

"The meetings must not be a formality. They should be ward-centred because residents are the key stakeholders in the city's budget," he said. "The budget should reflect the needs of each community. There are no blanket priorities when service delivery challenges vary so widely across wards."

Dube further stressed the need for transparency and accountability in how the city implements residents' proposals, warning against using public forums merely to rubber-stamp pre-made decisions.

"There should be measurable indicators and clear timelines. If roads are to be fixed, residents need specifics — which roads, how many kilometres, and when it will be done," he said. "The perception among many residents now is that their input is ignored after consultations."

Ward 26 councillor Mpumelelo Moyo, who chairs the council's finance and development committee, urged citizens to take part in the process and help shape the direction of the city's financial planning.

"Consultation is one of our core values in Bulawayo," said Moyo. "We are committed to working hand in glove with the residents because they are the ones who must guide how their money is spent and what priorities we should pursue."

Bulawayo, like many other urban centres in Zimbabwe, continues to grapple with issues ranging from poor road conditions and water supply disruptions to refuse collection and deteriorating public infrastructure. Residents are hoping that this year's budget process will go beyond rhetoric and deliver concrete change.

The consultations come at a time when residents have been increasingly vocal about the need for improved transparency and responsiveness in municipal governance.