Devoluton -Moving Foward

Moving Forward With Devolution By Dumisani O .Nkomo I would like to argue that whilst marginal and indeed incremental changes have been gained in as far as devolution of power is concerned ,devolved governance and service delivery will not work unless other pillars ,structures ,processes and laws are put in place . Importantly With the wrong human capital in place in the form of councillors, ,members of parliament ,senators ,provincial executives and critically provincial bureaucrats , devolution will become a mere mirage . The new constitution chiefly [chapter 14 ]merely outlines the framework of devolution of power but is does not give full expression to the concept .Nonetheless chapter fourteen expounds on the various stratas of governance from provincial to local government level that should give expression to the principle or concept of devolution of power .What is critical to note is that a lot of issues pertaining to devolution of power are left to acts of parliament in order to have practical expression and legislative application .This includes the establishment ,structure and staff of provincial and metropolitan councils ,the election of metropolitan council mayors and procedures of local authorities .In order for devolution to work properly therefore it is imperative to put in place enabling acts whilst at the same time re aligning current laws to the new architecture. Devolution of power and decentralization of services will not work as long as the current hazy framework remains and subsidiary laws do not give full expression ,meaning and practise to it .If laws governing water ,energy ,natural resources ,mining ,industry ,local government ,investment still maintain a highly centralized nature it is likely that devolution of power may be decorative and cosmetic It must be noted that though the draft gives a fairly good framework at a conceptual level ,this needs to be translated into praxis in relevant laws governing local government ,service delivery and resource allocation .Principles contained in the founding principles can be a starting point as the founding provisions recognize devolution and decentralization of government power and functions ,the three tiers of government [national ,provincial and local government ].Importantly the national objective of compelling the “state and institutions and agencies to take practical measures to ensure that all local authorities have equitable access to resources “ must be given practical effect in the enabling act and the rural and urban councils acts should be aligned accordingly to reflect this new socio political reality . Enabling Finance Act Devolution of power would be meaningless without dealing with issues of allocation of financial and natural resources .To this end Chapter 17 of the new constitution envisages “the equitable sharing of national revenue between “central , local and provincial and l tiers of government .The allocation of revenue between provincial and local government is left to an act of parliament . It is thus incumbent upon the incoming minister of finance and parliament to put in place such legislation in order to give full and practical expression to devolution financial functions . Devolution and a Competent Bureaucracy I must hasten to add that even with the most impressive pieces of legislation or policies, devolution may not work if the bureaucrats at national ,provincial and local level are not willing and able to the implement it .One of the greatest failures of post independent Zimbabwe is not our failure to craft effective policies and laws but rather the failure to implement policies .One only has to look at the impressive arsenal of economic blue prints since independents to get an idea what I am talking about .We had Growth With Equity [1980’s] ,Economic structural Adjustment Programme ,ZIMPREST ,the Millennium Economic Development Plan ,the National Economic Development Plan ,the Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme ,the Medium Term Plan amongst others but alas most of these have been “pie in the sky and not sadza on the plate “ We have been good on description and eloquent on detail but thin on implementation .Zimbabwe needs competent, able and willing people leading the civil service at relevant levels otherwise devolution just will not work Lastly in order for devolution to work Zimbabweans need to elect legislators with the capacity to debate ,enact and monitor the relevant legislation .The elected legislators and appointed ministers who are sympathetic to the cause of devolution of power must ensure that the legislative agenda of the next parliament reflects the imperative of laws aligned to a devolved dispensation . To conclude all I am saying is that the current framework of devolution in the new constitution is insufficient to deliver the desired order outside of certain fundamentals and imperatives . Nkomo is the Chief Executive Officer of Habakkuk Trust and an activist He can be contacted on dumisani.nkomo@gmail.com