daniel chigunwe
Remember Deketeke
STAKEHOLDERS attending the national advocacy meeting on devolution run by the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations, this week urged the Government to expedite the enactment of a law governing the process of devolution to enhance local authorities’ capacity to deliver more public services.
The proposed law, they said, would regulate the disbursement of devolution funds and decentralisation of powers to local authorities.
In 2020, President Mnangagwa launched the devolution and decentralisation policy which spelt out strategies for the successful implementation of the national agenda to promote development across the country’s 10 provinces.
At the meeting, chairperson of Parliament’s Local Government and Public Service Portfolio Committee Albert Nyakuedzwa said stakeholder involvement in crafting such Bills aided the attainment of Vision 2030.
“Participatory democracy, in letter and spirit, will be fostered by the proposed Bill. Grassroots activists will choose their own development priorities and initiatives in an effort to improve community quality of life and service delivery,” he said.
“This will strengthen the current policies, the call to action and the Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo, that will aid in the realisation of an upper middle-class economy by 2030.”
Furthermore, the Bill will help Parliament exercise its oversight duties.
“As a result, we only had a policy controlling devolution at present, thus a law managing the policy needed to be passed, which will see the combining of the Rural District Councils Act and the Urban Councils Act into a single legislation,” Mr Nyakuedzwa said.
“This will help Parliament in doing its duties of oversight, doing checks and balances on the use of money by local authorities.”
Zimbabwe Council of Churches secretary general, Wilfred Dimingu, said devolution needed to be evident from the bottom up.
The ZCC had played a pivotal role in conscietising people in the countryside.
The ZCC represents the mainline Protestant churches.
“The devolution we seek must begin at the local level, where people are involved in national development initiatives and decision-making processes,” Mr Dimingu said.
“ZCC has been involved in engaging people and local authorities in Masvingo, Matabeleland South, Manicaland and Mashonaland East where we were trying to popularise the issue to demystify devolution so that people can understand it and what it brings to them.’
ZCC has been lobbying with the Parliamentary portfolio committees to ensure that they work with the Government in implementing and making devolution work.
Online Reporter