adminPrecious Shumba
For some time now, Zimbabwe has grappled with the question of devolution of Government powers, with different interpretations coming from officials in Government and civil society.
Rarely has the voice of the citizens been at the heart of ongoing discussions on what devolution really implies.
To help unpack this issue, it becomes imperative that the meanings of devolution from a ratepayer and development practitioner’s perspective be factored in.
It goes without saying that any talk of devolution without unpacking it to its simplest form will not yield desired results in the long term.
Those who have been pushing for devolution of power want to ensure equality in the allocation and use of State resources, including natural and human resources.
I, therefore, intend to address, in brief, the issue of resource allocation, the functionality of different structures which are intended to give life to devolution and the linkages that exist between good governance and devolution of power from central Government.
Ultimately, ratepayers and all those keen on the development of our local authorities want to see a significant improvement in service provision.
Understanding devolution
Riedl and Dickovick (2014) — cited by Alois Madhekeni, a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe — defined devolution as a complex process.
In essence, they described it as “a form of decentralisation which encompasses political, fiscal and administrative reforms that create elected sub-national structures, establish autonomous bureaucratic units of decision-making and service provision and redistribute fiscal powers between central government and sub-national entities”.
Also, in an article titled “Understanding Federalism and Devolution”, which was published by the College Board in 2007, Donley Studlar defined devolution as a decentralisation process — even in a constitutionally unitary state — giving a greater degree of self-rule to sub-central units or self-identified communities, often ethnically based.
In our different interactions with Harare residents, they are clear that they want adequate and potable water in their households, they want consistent solid and liquid waste management, good trafficable roads, effective and efficient representation by their elected representatives and they want transparent use of public resources.
They say they want the public service providers, including local authorities, to be more accountable in their strategic planning, resource allocation, expenditure and performance management, and oversight management.
Services have to be available to them without difficulty.
This dovetails with Section 301 (3) of the Constitution, which stipulates that at least 5 percent of the national budget has to be allocated to local authorities and provincial governments.
It can even be raised to 10 percent.
The $310 million set aside in the 2019 National Budget is a good start, in my view, and should be applauded.
However, there is need for an agreed formula to share the money throughout the country’s 90 local authorities.
I believe that Government has to share the allocation on a percentage scale of the local authority’s annual budget.
What this means is that, for example, if the scale is 15 percent of the annual budget of a municipality, it becomes their share on the national allocation.
Then there is need to factor in the provincial and metropolitan councils as well so that no one is left behind in terms of access to the allocations from Treasury.
Ratepayers want a structure of governance that involves them throughout the chain of decision-making since they are the ones who largely fund the operations of local authorities.
Architecture
The Constitution provides for devolution of Government powers.
It also establishes local authorities, provincial and metropolitan councils as the major vehicles through which devolution would be implemented.
In a policy brief by the Harare Residents’ Trust (HRT) and the Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ) titled “Policy Brief on the Implementation of Devolution in Zimbabwe”, Dr Kudzai Chatiza of the Development Governance Institute (DEGI), who is a local Government expert, said: “The devolution of power to local and provincial councils helps to achieve fair and balanced development through provincial and metropolitan councils, which are allowed by the Constitution to set local development priorities.
“Governmental powers must be devolved to the local people so that there is increased transparency and accountability in the decision-making, governance and management of public affairs by local authorities.
“Provincial governments must be fully in control of their local authorities whilst central Government plays an oversight role to ensure that public resources are not abused.”
However, nothing concrete has been put into place to give devolution life.
There is need for a legal framework that specifies what roles and responsibilities the different actors in local Government will play when devolution is eventually implemented.
Increasing transparency and accountability has several connotations to some political and council elites, yielding different and divergent results.
To the political elites, devolution may imply more time making decisions on behalf of the people at a local level.
This means that instead of those decision-makers at lower levels giving residents and ratepayers the space and time to become more involved in planning, setting priorities and allocating resources, these lower-tier policymakers, including ward councillors, create their own systems of governance that excludes and marginalises the citizens.
Similarly, the officials in local authorities view devolution as that process that takes away their powers and give the powers to the citizens and politicians.
There are some bureaucrats who want to retain their supervision, control and oversight of local authorities.
The result is that despite regular pronouncements by Government of their serious intentions to devolve powers, there is genuine fear in the corridors of power that their powers will be whittled down as policymakers in lower tiers of local Government become more involved in running public affairs.
Greater involvement of citizens under a devolved state makes planning, implementation and control easier for all stakeholders.
Therefore, there is need to specify how the Government intends to devolve its powers.
Challenges
The current structures of local Government create internal discord and multiple reporting and implementing authorities.
Currently, under devolution, they speak of metropolitan and provincial councils.
Yet already we have local authorities — both rural and urban.
There are ministers of provincial affairs, provincial administrators, including district administrators and district officers for Harare City Council.
Government has already indicated that existing structures will remain in place under the envisaged devolved structure.
Under the current structure, the provincial administrator is the most senior worker in each province whose key role is to co-ordinate Government ministries at that level, while the Provincial Affairs Minister is the President’s representative responsible for coordinating policy within the metropolitan or provincial council.
However, in a paper titled “Unpacking the Legal Framework for Devolution in Zimbabwe”, Dr James Tsabora from the Centre for Applied Legal Research, indicated that bureaucrats are ultimately accountable to people in the communities they serve.
He said: “Section 270(3) and Section 274 (1) and 275(1) states that members of provincial and or metropolitan councils are accountable collectively and individually to the people whom they lead in the respective provinces.”
They are also accountable to the national Government.
Dr Tsabora argues that metropolitan and provincial councils need to be accountable to central Government in order to ensure that they perform the duties for which they are mandated in terms of the Constitution.
However, it has to be noted that the polarisation in Zimbabwe creates a very difficult situation which threatens devolution.
In light of the above scenarios of contestations for power and authority, Government has a duty to clarify the different roles that each of the already existing structures will play in serving citizens.
Residents want to know exactly what is being devolved to them, what powers and rights they would have, and how they can enhance their participation in the governance, administration, resource allocation and strategic planning and oversight of council operations.
Devolution must not be a complex process as it must reflect the aspirations of the nation.
Each community has its priorities and it is my hope that the final structure that our Government is working on will enhance effectiveness and efficiencies so that the nation gets to benefit from its abundant resources — human, financial and natural.
This article is an abridged version of a paper written by Precious Shumba, who is the director of the Harare Residents’ Trust (HRT), on devolution. Contact Details: +263 772 869 294, [email protected]
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