Job Title	Ward Councillor
Reporting to	Municipal Residents
Responsibilities	Responsible for ensuring that the policy making process conducted in a manner that upholds justice and fairness for the Municipal residents and that good and quality services are rendered by Council to residents in a transparent and accountable manner.
Main duties	• Representing the people of one's wards, both women and men, in deliberations and discussions of Council • Raising and highlighting issues of concern to the residents for deliberation and resolution by Council • Recommending by-laws for approval by the Minister • Ensuring transparency and accountability of Council business through participation in the various Council Committees • Ensuring quality service by the Council to residents (water, refuse collection and waste management, health, education, markets etc.) • Discussing the Budget Estimates for Council after consultation with the residents and stakeholders and monitoring its implementation • Monitoring Council's implementation of national programmmes, projects and policies • Linking one's ward with resources and expertise to implement sustainable projects of benefit to the entire community.
Job qualifications	• Be a Zimbabwean citizen • Be a registered voter, who has attained the age of 21 years • Have been ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe for a period not less than five years during the past twenty years immediately before his/her nomination. • Ability and commitment to the development of Zimbabwe is a desired advantage.

Gender Audit of the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29:15)
Qualification for Mayoral or Councilor elections

Section 40 provides the qualifications for election as councilors. The qualifications relate to age, citizenship and qualifications to vote in the council elections. On the face of it, the provisions do not show any discrimination against women. However, in practice the provisions fail to take into account the factors on the ground that result in the exclusion of women in participating in council elections. A number of socio-economic and cultural factors act as deterrence. Liberal politics is based on the division between the private and the public. Men will appear as the heads of the household and as individuals who are active in the public sphere whilst women are relegated to the private sphere. The political is therefore defined as being very masculine in a very profound sense. Thus women will find themselves participating less than men at the formal political levels. Many women also find that the constraints placed on them by the responsibilities in the “private” sphere also reduce their ability to participate in conventional political activity on the same terms as men. Once they decide to engage in active politics women are faced with the challenges of the “first past the post system”. The right to participate is not made distinct from the ability to participate. The representation of women is of vital importance if quality democracy is to be achieved.

Recommendations to this situation include the introduction of a quota system for women as well as the introduction of representation of minority interests such as the disabled etc.

Section 49 provides for election of and qualifications of a Mayor. The prospective candidate should have attained the age of 40years, be a citizen of Zimbabwe, is and has been ordinarily resident in the for the five years preceding the elections in the local area concerned and be either an occupier or owner of rateable property in the local area concerned. The Mayor must also fulfill certain educational qualifications. The prospective candidate must be the holder of a general certificate of education with at least five passes including English language pass at ordinary level. Further, the candidate must also possess either tow passes at Advanced level or a post ordinary level qualification in any career or profession obtained after pursuing at least two years of study. The candidate should also have a working knowledge of either Shona or Ndebele.

The provisions do not take into the educational imbalances between men and women. The older generation of women, who would be eligible for the Mayoral post on the basis of age, was most disadvantaged in education while the younger generations benefited from the education system expansion in the first ten years of independence. If women lack the educational qualifications due to the historical socio-cultural and political factors, it is not possible to assume that they will compete at the same level with men for the top post in the council. Not to take into account these factors ultimately leads to the hindered participation of women in the political arena. Whilst acknowledging that the post of mayor is both a professional and political one it is important to acknowledge the limitation placed by the Act on women’s ability to compete for space in the decision making processes.

Download WiPSU's analysis of the Urban Councils Act in word or pdf format

See also
Job description Senator
Job description Member of Parliament