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Devolution of power biblical — Zvidzai

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Local Government deputy minister Sessel Zvidzai has defended devolution of power saying the concept was both “biblical and traditional”. Devolution has remained a contested issue in the constitution-making process with Zanu PF opposed to the system while other parties were pushing for its adoption. Addressing a public meeting in Harare last week, Zvidzai said the […]

Local Government deputy minister Sessel Zvidzai has defended devolution of power saying the concept was both “biblical and traditional”.

Devolution has remained a contested issue in the constitution-making process with Zanu PF opposed to the system while other parties were pushing for its adoption.

Addressing a public meeting in Harare last week, Zvidzai said the Bible was awash with examples where devolution was applied as a governance system.

“Devolution of power implies giving power to provinces and towns and this is what Moses was instructed to do by God and there is nothing wrong to copy that.

“It is not a Western thing like what our learned colleagues from other parties want us to believe,” he said.

Zvidzai added that the concept of chieftainship and village heads was also devolution.

“Every village dealt with its own problems and no other chief interfered in the other’s internal affairs,” Zvidzai said.

He shot down Zanu PF claims that Zimbabwe was “too small” for devolution, arguing the country was bigger than Denmark, Lesotho and Botswana in terms of population.

Zanu PF politburo member Jonathan Moyo recently said: “This debate is senseless because devolution, which is a well-recognised public administration principle and concept of decentralisation, has been falsely morphed into a constitutional issue carrying all the baggage of federalism which has become a dirty word in the Zimbabwean constitutional debate.

“The time has come to make it very clear that Zanu PF will not support or be part of any draft constitution that seeks federalism in Zimbabwe under any guise, let alone the cover of devolution. Federalism is not devolution and devolution is not federalism.”