Government has proposed to harmonise the tenures of city and town councillors with those of neighbourhood councillors and the dates for their elections as part of a series of amendments to the local government laws.
The proposals, which also include procedures to break ties at both the municipal- and Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC)-levels without ministerial involvement, are contained in the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2018, which was introduced in the National Assembly on Thursday by Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan.
The bill seeks to amend six related pieces of legislation: the Municipal and District Councils Act, the Local Government Act, the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, the Local Democratic Organs Act, the Local Authorities (Elections) Amendment Act and the Election Laws (Amendment) Act.