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New Constitution should empower local authorities
Givemore Chipere, Community Radio Harare
August 4, 2009

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The current debate on the devolution of power to local councils, as reported elsewhere in this newsletter, comes at a good time when the constitution-making process has just started. For a long time, the great potential that local authorities have in terms of improving service delivery in our councils and towns has not been realized. This can be attributed to the fact that these have not been provided with enough space and resources to diligently exercise their duties.

The present constitutional reform process should come up with a clearly defined product that will recognize local authorities as entities in the constitution and do away with the current situation where local government are administered through Acts of Parliament. The current set-up deters development as only the individual minister of Local Government, Urban and Rural Development is given excessive powers that allows him to disregard public opinion and resolutions. He has got unilateral powers that enable him to make a discretion on which council should benefit from fiscal support. Therefore the Urban Councils Act and Rural Districts Councils Act, hinder the empowerment of communities in decision making and programme implementation and give all the powers to one individual.

A lot of issues have been raised pertaining to multiple shortcomings of these acts and how the nation could take this constitution making opportunity to ensure that local authorities are given responsibilities and powers to make decisions that can develop their areas and be responsive to the needs of the citizens.

Local governance and the role of local authorities should thus be captured in the envisaged new constitution as has been the case in other countries. Even the Zimbabwe Local Government Association (ZILGA) has thrown its weight behind this devolution process as this would enhance service delivery and autonomy for rural and urban authorities. The role of central government, as practised in other countries where power has been successfully decentralized such as Mali, should be that of setting up national policy and let local councils be responsible for all day-to-day services and local matters.

The role of central government, through the responsible ministers, could also be that of monitoring and ensuring consistent standards to safeguard public health or to protect the rights of individual citizens. The state should be allowed to retain an advisory role in administrative and fiscal matters, and when necessary provide technical support.

Where local authorities have a dispute with the central government, then there could be a parliamentary commission or a court of law that would come in to deal with the situation as has been the case with other local authorities in some countries.

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