Rethinking Local Governance

By Dumisani O Nkomo

In order for any country to experience sustainable growth epitomized by sound service delivery, inclusivity and citizen participation, it is vital that a vibrant local governance foundation be in place. Importantly the local government tier of  governance in a polity has to be functional, effective, relevant and responsive. Since local government is the tier of government which is closest to the daily needs of people it is vital that this strata exists within an architecture which allows it to deliver economic and social dividends through service delivery. In the Zimbabwean context it is imperative that we begin to rethink our local governance landscape and this article proffers a few insights into how this can be achieved.

 

Service Delivery Challenges

The provision of quality, affordable, accessible and inclusive basic services is the alpha and omega of local governance. In order to trigger this adequate service provision there has to be a balanced demand and supply matrix. The demand side of local governance is the sum total of the needs,aspirations, voices, demands, rights of citizens and residents who are the primary consumers of services provided by local authorities. Local authorities whether urban or rural form the basis of the supply side of local governance. In terms of the Urban Councils Act and the Rural District Councils Act, local authorities exist to ensure that residents, villagers, house dwellers etc have adequate access to services and development. If this then is the case there is a strong argument for strong residents associations, community organizations, local business organizations having adequate space, capacity and skills to demand services and development from the suppliers of the services who are principally but not necessarily  the local authorities. I would like to argue that though local authorities especially in the form of municipalities are supposed to be the principal service providers although this is not necessarily the case because of the centralization of services such as bulk water supply and electricity.

 

Centralization

Whereas the pre-independence era was predicated by local authorities that were mandated to provide services such as electricity and water, the post-independence era or rather error in this instance occasioned the centralization of some vital services. This culminated in legislation which brought about the Zimbabwe National Water Authority [ZINWA ] , the Zimbabwe National Road Administration [ZINARA] and the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority[ZESA] .

If government is serious about devolution of power, there has to be a radical rethink about this service provision paradigm, which centralizes both power and provision of basic services whilst reducing revenue streams of local authorities. If we are to embrace the principle and practice of  devolution and decentralization of power and services as a nation, we also need to have a radical rethink about our current architecture which places local authorities on the margins of the service provision super structure of the country.

Principally, I would like to advocate for the eventual devolution of provision of energy, road construction and water delivery to local authorities. This has to be done incrementally or in an evolutionary manner because if it is fast tracked it can create new problems. Such new problems include incompetent and corrupt local councils that could possibly accentuate the service delivery crisis, which the nation is clearly facing. It would take between 5 to 10 years to adequately devolve provision of these three services to all local authorities as they are all at different levels of capacity and technical craft competence.

 

Why Local Authorities Failing To Deliver

Currently, most local authorities are failing to deliver their mandate of delivering quality services to citizens for a plethora of reasons which I will explore. Provision of services such as refuse collection remains  a challenge in major cities such as Harare and Bulawayo. Other local authorities are battling to provide  adequate sewer reticulation and a swathe of municipalities are failing to do the most basic thing that a local authority should and can do that is to keep cities and towns clean .

The reasons for this failure include but is not limited to :

1. Outright corruption
2. Incompetence
3. Lack of capacity
4. Limited revenue base
5. Central government interference- the case of local authorities being forced to acquire fire tenders from Belarus is an example.

 

There must be inbuilt mechanisms at the oversight level of sub-national governance to contain the scourge of local level corruption. It would be naïve to assume that once all power is devolved or decentralized corruption will disappear. Instead there may be, as there has been a proliferation of local level corruption. Provincial and Metropolitan Councils must be legally strengthened to exercise legislative, judicial and administrative oversight over local authorities. Provincial government or sub-national government must in turn be accountable to central government and parliament.

 

Issues that relate to lack of capacity and incompetence have to do with both the supply and demand  side of local governance. Citizens elect inept and manifestly unable, unwilling and incompetent councillors then expect miracles from those very same people. Citizens have to be more responsible on the demand side by electing individuals that are capable of delivering. Unfortunately the partisan nature of Zimbabwean politics makes this impossible. One only has to be a member of ZANU P.F or the C.C.C. to win as a councillor.

 

 

Rethinking Local Government Elections

 

Ideally, local government elections must be delinked from Presidential and Parliamentary Elections and held in totally different years. The assumption is that once this is done local governance matters will emerge as separate electoral issuess. This of course is in theory since this was the case in 1980 and 1985 when local government elections were separate from national elections. I still argue that local and national elections must be separated for the following reasons;

 

 

1.       To ensure that local government elections are issue based or based on local priorities. Usually they are immersed in toxic politics of either Zanu must go or ZANU must stay and not on issues that affect people on a day to day basis.

2.       It will be easier to hold parties and individuals to account.

3.         Independent candidates will stand a higher chance of winning.

 

 

Traditionally independents have been the best candidates due to their lack of affinity for partisan interests. However most have lost heavily due to our electoral system which  deifies political parties before whom all should bow and confess that they rule.

 

A big question for all of us as we head for the next elections in 2023, is what issues are at stake in the different localities next year?  Ideally the issue of controversial parking systems, failure to provide basic services should be local government issues in cities like Harare and Bulawayo. In other areas the issues could be different but candidates that contest in elections must be able to participate in town hall debates and meetings where they outline their policies and ideas. Local government elections must be about the best ideas, the best leaders and the best policies and local government elections must be a contest of ideas. This is not to say national elections must be otherwise but this is easier to achieve at local level.

 

Broadening of Revenue Streams

 

Lastly I would like to argue that  local authorities are unable to deliver services because they have dwindling and limited revenue streams . A failing national economy has eroded  ratepayers abilities to pay for rates and services. Local authorities have very limited central government support. This is due to diminished incomes which has resulted in rate payers being unable to pay for rates and services. This is also caused by central government starving local government of revenue streams from vehicle licencing [ which used to be localized ], for example. This is also exacerbated by local authorities[1]  inability to think outside the box to broaden their revenue bases in order to provide quality services. Without  broad revenue bases local authorities will be unable to deliver basic services.

 

In conclusion Local governance should be given the requisite attention that it deserves in Zimbabwe in order to improve the lives of citizens in various local authorities. The devolution concept has to be delinked from political party contestation for it to carry its relevant meaning. Political party grandstanding has killed local community initiatives and should come to an end in Zimbabwe if local authorities are to effectively run their programs in their quest to deliver the basic services to their residents.

 

Dumisani O Nkomo is a writer and author of the Book No Holds Barred. He can be contacted on this email address. Dumisani.nkomo @gmail.com

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ReThinking and Reimagining Zimbabwe

By Dumisani O Nkomo

Zimbabwe has languished for far too long in a morass of economic quagmire and the time has come for the country to extricate itself from the indignities of mass poverty. Importantly, it is critical for us as a nation to rethink our governance and economic models, so that the country becomes a globally competitive entity with quality standard of living for its citizens; sustainable economic growth and solid service delivery. In this instalment I will proffer a few ideas on how the country can place itself on a pedestal of sustainable economic growth, development and social transformation.

Global Competitive Index

A good starting point is for the country to be in tandem with global growth indicators such as the World Economic Forum ‘s Global Competitiveness Index, which measures a country’s economic growth and development, using a number of indicators including infrastructure, institutions, macro-economic health, technological readiness, ease of doing business, government efficiency, service delivery, amongst other indices. Specifically, the World Economic Forum Defines global competitiveness as the ability of a country to achieve sustained high rates of growth in Gross Domestic Product [G.D.P] per capita. Using this as a yardstick, it is thus important for us as a nation to take stock of where we are, and then re-imagine or rethink how we can place the country on a trajectory of sustainable growth and transformation; which in turn will improve the standard of living for citizens. Standard of living can be termed as the material well-being of people and it can be measured by factors such as income, access to goods and services including health, education etc. It is the dream of every Zimbabwean to have a decent quality standard of living and in any electoral contest the contestation should be about the political entity or set of individuals who /which is/ are best able to deliver quality standard of living for the citizens through clearly articulated programs of actions, strategies, policies, or in the electoral case well thought out manifestoes.

Governance / Leadership

At the epicentre of a country’s ability to turn its fortunes around is the critical issue of governance and leadership. Leadership expert John Maxwell aptly sums this thinking through his dictum; everything rises and falls on leadership. Critically, our definition of leadership should not be limited to political leadership, but the entirety of leadership in the corporate sector, civil society, arts, academia, sport, civic and community arenas. Leadership across different sectors requires cross cutting qualities of servanthood, adaptability, envisioning, integrity and enterprise. Leadership is the software that creates a template for sustainable societal transformation, community development and economic growth and this is the foundation that the nation should build in order for meaningful and incremental socio-economic development to take place. A meritocratic leadership model should be central to nation building. Meritocracy refers to government by merit, and merit is not limited to academic qualifications and performance, but craft competence in a given field or given fields, a track record of achievement and demonstrable potential, enterprise and talent. Having said this, I would like to  say that elections have become a meaningless political ritual where political parties routinely recycle their cadres, largely pre-occupied by desperate collective desires to occupy political office at any cost through any means possible and chiefly through two main political antagonists, ZANU P.F and CCC. It’s about time elections became a contest of ideas not a glorified personality pageant. In the aftermath of the ignominious exit of Conservative Party Leader Boris Johnson from office no less than 11 contenders have emerged from his party for the post. Interestingly, the issue which appears central to all of them is the issue of taxation. This is an internal contest and it is already clear what issues are at stake. For Zimbabwe what issues are at stake in the 2023 elections and what do the different political parties stand for ideologically or ideawise? What policy propositions does the ruling party have to extricate the country from this economic quagmire? What alternative policies and leadership do opposing parties have? What policy propositions do contestants for municipal and house of assembly have? What policy propositions do presidential aspirants for the 2023 elections have or it’s an issue of personalities, emotions, history and factional interests?

Local Governance Leadership and Architecture

Local governance must be saved from the jaws of partisan politics. Ideally, political party electoral politics must be done away with at local authority level and replaced by a meritorious candidate; with a track record of community service or those who can pitch feasible ideas capable of transforming local government and service delivery. The rot has crept in at the local level with political opportunists sneaking in through political back doors using the popularity of the country’s parties ZANU P.F and CCC. Local government is the basis of a thriving democracy and sound service delivery because it is that level of governance which is closer to the people and is engaged with daily issues that affect people. It only stands to reason that quality Councillors are needed to debate and enact policies and strategies for the collective well-being of municipalities. Important financial decisions that affect the collective well-being of citizens are made at this level, but the country has left this critical aspect of governance to chance, giving room to corruption and inept governance across the political divide. The country needs a new political culture and architecture which recognizes and promotes an efficient, devolved governance. The idea of devolution enshrined in section 272 of constitution is instead elusive if we do not have the right kind of leaders and managers at local level. The devolution economic dividend can only be delivered through able leadership at micro level.

Policies and Institutions

In order to deliver quality standard of living for citizens, a country needs policies which address the imperatives of a growing sustainable economy. Stability and growth in themselves have an indelible link with coherent policy formulation and implementation. Policy instability through random and regular enactment of statutory instruments can undermine business and investor confidence. It is thus essential for the executive arm of government to ensure that policy pronouncements are consistent with broader economic strategy growth imperatives and are not diametrically opposite to the global goals of sustainable growth to deliver quality standard of living for citizens .For example, in May 2022 the government in a bid to arrest currency slide and inflation banned banks from issuing loans in a move which was clearly addressing the symptoms of a deeper macroeconomic issue . Thankfully the ban was later on reversed but such policy incoherence and unpredictability has a negative impact on markets, currency stability, investor confidence and business growth.

There is need to respect the independence of the diverse arms of government and institutions which exist to protect the public interests. The Reserve Bank is one such institution whose independence should not be undermined but it should not however become law to itself as was the case in the 2006 -2007. The independence of the legislature and the judiciary are critical as we mould a stable, democratic, people -centred model of governance which delivers a quality standard of living to citizens. These independent arms of government ensure that there are adequate checks and balances for the general good. Importantly the Chapter 12 institutions i.e. Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, Zimbabwe Gender Commission and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission are institutions which need to be strengthened by ensuring that they are adequately resourced and accountable to parliament.

Strong, independent institutions will provide a stable governance apparatus which is foundational to building business and investor confidence. There is a link between institutions and Global Competitiveness, the respect for independent commissions guarantees such a dispensation.

A sound political / governance architecture epitomized by sound legal frameworks, pragmatic policymaking, robust implementation and a culture of strong independent institutions is essential in building the foundations of a transformational state.

This is just the first of an instalment of four other articles which will explore how we can reimagine and rebuild Zimbabwe. In the other articles I will look at the economy, service delivery, a green economy and technology.

 

Dumisani O Nkomo is a writer and author of the book No Holds Barred.