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Parly to convene public hearings on Local Government Bill

Opinion & Analysis
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Rural and Urban Development will next week convene public hearings on the Local Government Laws Amendment Bill currently before the National Assembly.

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Rural and Urban Development will next week convene public hearings on the Local Government Laws Amendment Bill currently before the National Assembly.

John Makamure

Saviour-Kasukuwure1

The following centres have been identified for the hearings: Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare, Masvingo, Karoi, Mvurwi, Mutoko, Murehwa and Macheke. Admittedly, the hearings have once again failed to cover the whole country. However, this is the best that Parliament can do given the limited resources. Those unable to attend the hearings can still make written submissions to Parliament.

The hearings, held in fulfilment of section 141 of the Constitution and Parliament’s good practices, are aimed at soliciting public input on this piece of legislation that has already generated intense debate.

The majority of civil society organisations working in the area of local governance have slammed the Bill for making no attempt to fully align the Urban Councils Act and Rural District Councils Act with the Constitution. They look at this Bill as a perpetuation of the peace-meal approach that has so far characterised the process of aligning laws with the Constitution.

The Bill has also been roundly criticised for leaving intact the powers of central government to issue directives to local authorities to suspend mayors and councillors and to appoint caretakers to assume the running of councils. This is viewed as a flagrant violation of section 278(2) of the Constitution, which confers these powers to an independent tribunal. To make matters worse, the minister is empowered by the proposed legislation to appoint a majority of the members of an independent tribunal, which undermines its independence.

The important issue of devolution of governmental powers and responsibilities, as spelt out in Chapter 14 of the Constitution, has not been tackled. The authors of the Constitution clearly outlined the objectives of devolution as follows:

l to give powers of local governance to the people, and enhance their participation in the exercise of the powers of the State and in making decisions affecting them;

l to promote democratic, effective, transparent, accountable and coherent government in Zimbabwe as a whole;

l to preserve and foster the peace, national unity and indivisibility of Zimbabwe;

l to recognise the right of communities to manage their affairs and to further their development;

l to ensure the equitable sharing of local and national resources; and

l to transfer responsibilities and resources from the national government in order to establish a sound financial base for each provincial and metropolitan council and local authority.

In a nutshell, devolution is aimed at promoting local development. Local communities will be empowered through devolution to have a voice in the manner local resources are exploited. Not the current situation where diamond mining companies, for example, exploit the resource and leave local communities poorer than before.

Fears that devolution will result in a loss of political control are unfounded. In fact, devolution will promote development at local level and strengthen one’s grip on political power. A poor community is naturally angry, and therefore, a major threat on political power.

Section 270 of the Constitution requires provincial and metropolitan councils to plan and implement social and economic development activities, and coordinate and implement governmental programmes in the provinces. These local government structures play a key role in steering development in the provinces and ensuring transparency and accountability in the operations of the local authorities in their respective districts.

The devolution and decentralisation of governmental power and functions is one of the founding values of the Constitution. This means implementation of provisions in chapter 14 on devolution is not an option. It has to be done if we claim to respect the supremacy of the Constitution.

The Portfolio Committee on Local Government must, therefore, bear this in mind when they conduct public hearings. This is not the time to be driven by partisan interests. Devolution of governmental powers is a non-partisan issue. Local governance must be strengthened through appropriate laws and practices that pass the constitutional test. We cannot waste resources enacting legislation directed at individuals when the country is crying for policies and legislation that address pressing social needs such as reducing poverty and inequality.

A comprehensive piece of legislation that fully aligns the Urban Councils Act and the Rural District Councils Act with the Constitution is the answer. The portfolio committee must then ensure, through its oversight role, that the law is implemented in letter and spirit. The committee recently had a tour of local authorities country-wide, and witnessed first-hand the sorry state of affairs afflicting many of the authorities. I am sure the tour has armed the committee with sufficient background information to demand a good local government law that can help to arrest the collapse in social services delivery at local level.

The committee should take seriously public input and engage the Minister of Local Government to amend the Bill. Other portfolio committees have managed to influence substantive changes to draft legislation after conducting public hearings. Examples are the Parliamentary Legal Committee and the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Portfolio Committee, which managed to push for changes to the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Amendment Bill and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission Bill. Public hearings are not a waste of resources after all.

l John Makamure is the Executive Director of the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust. Feedback: [email protected]