1921 – Road Council Ordinance
Road Council Ordinance of 1921
In a bid to encourage district authorities to contribute their fair share to the road construction programme, the government passed the Road Councils Ordinance in 1921.
The Road Councils Ordinance provided for the creation of road councils throughout Rhodesia and ruled that the government should give financial aid to such councils through a grants-inaid system on a £ for £ basis. The road councils throughout the country oversaw the construction and maintenance of district roads, while the Vehicle Tax Ordinance of the same year imposed a tax on all vehicles using the country’s roads in order to raise funds for road maintenance.
District councils were rather slow to respond to this law and it was not until 1923 that the first Road Council was established in Que Que. The 1930 Road Councils Act limited rate levies to once every 12 months.
Road Councils
- Bindura and District Road Council
- Bromley Road Council
- Gatooma-Hartley Road Council
- Glendale Road Council
- Marandellas Road Council
- Norton-Lydiate Road Council
- Que Que Road Council
- Rusape Area Road Council
- Shamva Road Council
References
- From Dirt Tracks to Modern Highways Towards a History of Roads and Road Transportation in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1890 to World War II – Alois S Mlambo
- Official Year Book of the Colony of Southern Rhodesia, Volume 3, 1932