The ManicaPost
AS Zimbabwe works towards achieving an upper middle-income economy by 2030, the Government of Zimbabwe has identified devolution as a key pillar in achieving that, with the framework enshrined in Section 264 of the country’s Constitution.
Under devolution, citizens are involved in setting the development agenda in their communities.
The Constitution provides for citizen participation in decision making, hence the need to empower citizens to engage through the various residents associations and other citizens’ engagement platforms.
Once equipped with the relevant information, communities will be capacitated to engage with local authorities and participate in setting the priority projects in their communities.
It is the people who know whether they need better roads, clinics or schools, etcetera.
Those needs then inform what the local authorities should prioritise.
Those needs have seen Government allocating funds for devolution in line with Section 301 of the country’s Constitution.
For the 2023 financial year, Manicaland was allocated $21,3 billion from the devolution funds by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
These funds are being used for infrastructure development in water, health, education and roads within our districts, among other things.
Through devolution, a lot of work has already been done in rehabilitating Manicaland’s road network.
Road maintenance — which is a mandate for local authorities through Zinara’s funding — has been neglected for long and Government has taken it upon itself to intervene.
Unfortunately, the current rainy season has eroded the progress that had been made last year and various roads across the province have now become death traps for the travelling public.
It is expected that the local authorities will use the released devolution funds to rehabilitate the heavily potholed roads.
This, indeed, should be a top priority because the multitudes of people in the affected areas are not able to access health and education facilities, while they struggle to fully participate in the development of the economy as they are cut off from their suppliers and markets.
Good roads are therefore vital in growing the provincial economy, especially in line with the devolution agenda and Vision 2030.
Improved road networks will bring many benefits for local communities through improved social interaction and mobility.
Heath facilities and schools should also be a priority under devolution, especially considering that thousands of people have to walk long distances to access these crucial services. We expect to see more schools and clinics being built during the course of this year.
However, the implementation of devolution brings with it broader capacity demands at the different tiers of Government and the need for strengthening institutions to enable them to deliver the devolution agenda.
Inadequate skilled and experienced personnel within the lower tiers of Government will undermine the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of devolution projects.
Therefore, the need for good financial management skills and accountability when it comes to devolution funds cannot be overstated.
In addition, the disbursement of devolution funds from Treasury needs to be complimented by improved revenue generation at local authority level.
In particular, local authorities need to improve their capacity to collect all the revenue from billed services.
There is also a need to inculcate an entrepreneurial culture within local authorities, characterised by vibrant business development units.
With Mutare City Council running Pungwe Breweries to complement its revenue generation, all the other local authorities in Manicaland wholly rely on billed services and Government disbursements; which is an unhealthy situation for institutions that could be generating their own revenue.
The economic devolution model intends to transform provinces and districts into economic hubs to grow the local Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This model discourages the mentality of folding one’s arms and always waiting for handouts from higher authorities.
Devolution is also expected to create new business opportunities in the province, including the local beneficiation of agricultural, forestry, aquatic and mineral resource endowments within Manicaland’s seven districts to increase their market value.
This way, we will not export jobs to Harare and other countries by exporting our resources in their raw form.
Devolution will also see us exploiting opportunities for public and private sector partnerships, which will result in the creation of employment within the devolved areas.
