Government to fully implement devolution policy

GOVERNMENT is in the process of fully implementing the devolution and decentralisation policy, which will see more power being devolved to local authorities, provincial and metropolitan councils as the Second Republic fulfils the constitutional provisions that creates people-centred development.

The devolution principle is enshrined in the Constitution on Section 264 titled “Devolution of Governmental powers and responsibilities.”

The section states that whenever appropriate, Governmental powers and responsibilities must be devolved to provincial and metropolitan councils and local authorities which are competent to carry out those responsibilities efficiently and effectively.

Devolution is captured in two chapters of the Constitution namely Chapter 2 which deals with the political arrangements and Chapter 14 which deals with the financial provisions.

The powers and responsibilities to be transferred from the Central Government include the formulation and implementation of budgets.

Virtually addressing delegates in Bulawayo during a symposium on the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) thematic working group on devolution and decentralisation recently, Local Government and Public Works Minister Winston Chitando said all the decision-making powers about the planning and implementation of provincial development projects and programmes will be vested in councils.

“The local authorities will be the engines and drivers of economic growth. Communities will have participatory democracy and must derive benefit from the exploitation of the resources in their areas,” he said.

Minister Chitando said constitutional provisions on devolution are yet to be fully implemented as subsidiary legislation and policy guidelines are still being crafted.

“In the same vein, citizens have high expectations on the prospects of devolution to improve transparency and accountability within the devolved governance structures, service delivery and economic development at both local and national levels,” he said.

Minister Chitando said the Government started implementing devolution in 2019, taking upon itself to support local authorities in water, sanitation and hygiene, road rehabilitation and construction of schools and clinics among other projects.

“It should be noted that this has created thousands of jobs for the youths. Government has so far injected billions of dollars into these programmes and projects to date.

“The Devolution Agenda of the Second Republic continues to gather momentum with resources being disbursed for capital projects to all local authorities as guided by Section 301 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe,” he said.

“These infrastructure projects being implemented have tremendously improved the living standards of the majority of the people who mainly reside in the rural areas.”

Minister Chitando acknowledged that the implementation of the devolution and decentralisation policy in Zimbabwe has been rather slow.

“Given that devolution agenda is a new complex practice in Zimbabwe, therefore there is need to develop an implementation architecture, strategy and programming support framework to accompany the execution of devolution and decentralisation,” he said.

The framework for devolution is enshrined in Section 264 of the Constitution and other subsidiary legislation such the Urban Council Act (Chapter 29:15), Rural Councils Act (Chapter 29:13), Regional and Town and Country Planning Act (Chapter 29: 12), and Rural Councils and Administration Act (Chapter 29:11) which need to be first amended to align with the Constitution.

The amendment of the Provincial Councils and Administrative Act (Chapter 29:11) to align with the Constitution is already underway.

The Public Service Commission (PSC) has now started engaging the Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution along with their permanent secretaries countrywide over the smooth implementation of devolving power.

A team from the PSC has since last month been engaging provinces as part of an effort to expedite the transfer of political power to provinces.