Online Reporter
Remember Deketeke
Herald Reporter
Chiefs are an essential part of the devolution and governance components towards achieving Zimbabwe’s National Development Strategy (NDS 1), the Minister of Local Government and Public Works Daniel Garwe said yesterday.
Speaking at the launch of the devolution capacity building for traditional chiefs drawn from Mashonaland East at the University of Zimbabwe, Minister Garwe said the initiative aims to foster community participation and ensure that decision-making processes are more inclusive and accessible to the populace.
Minister Garwe highlighted that governance and devolution are among the 14 national priority areas vital for progress.
“These are fundamental pillars upon which our Zimbabwean societies are built, and their effective implementation is essential for the progress and prosperity of our nation,” he said.
“Devolution promotes effective governance by bringing decision-making closer to the people, fostering a sense of ownership, and enabling more efficient delivery of public services.”
Chiefs were custodians of cultural practices and traditional values that bound Zimbabweans together.
“They present an opportunity to get to the grassroots of our great nation. You will appreciate that every one of us here is defined by a village of origin and a chieftainship,” said Minister Garwe
“It is through these traditional leadership structures that will help the country to achieve meaningful development. You may recall the President’s mantra of ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’ and this can only be attained with the inclusion of our esteemed chiefs and their lower hierarchies such as headmen and village heads.”
Devolution, Minister Garwe said, required building capacity and providing necessary resources to traditional leaders and their local authorities to ensure their effective functioning.
It was through the village development committees, village assemblies, ward assemblies and ward development committees that the devolution agenda was kept alive as it fosters a culture of collaboration and cooperation between different tiers of Government, as well as engaging citizens in the decision-making process.
Addressing chiefs at the same event, University of Zimbabwe Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Mapfumo said traditional leaders were the vanguard of devolution, hence the decentralisation of power could not happen without their involvement.
“As such, this launch of the devolution capacity building for traditional leaders is one of the benefits of Zimbabwe’s community-based initiative that seeks to explore the traditional leaders’ knowledge and practises regarding devolution and decentralisation,” he said.
Given the pivotal role traditional leaders play in community development, Prof Mapfumo noted that their effectiveness not only improves processing and civic consultation but also enables citizens to contribute to evidence-based rural development, decision-making, and action plans aimed at alleviating poverty at the local level.
