CONFUSION over who is responsible for road maintenance sparked a heated debate at a devolution meeting, with Bulawayo residents, councillors, and government officials clashing over whether decentralisation is real or just a show.
The blame game exposed gaps in funding, legislation and accountability that residents say are costing lives.
The shortcomings were laid bare during the Local Governance Conference under the theme, Re- Imagining NDS2 legal frameworks for devolution, held at Holiday Inn in Bulawayo on Wednesday last week.
Women Lead Health Southern Africa representative, Ruth Labode, asked which level of government is responsible for road maintenance since devolution, noting that the responsibility once lay with councils, but seems unclear, since the involvement of the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara).
“Who is responsible or has the responsibility of maintaining roads? Is it under Zinara because once upon a time, it was under council?" she asked.
Labode cited overgrown shrubs in Hillside, Bulawayo, as an example, saying: “Next time you are in Bulawayo, I want to take you for a tour. To see why road traffic accidents are happening.”
Keep Reading
A Bulawayo resident asked local authorities, why they complain about delays in the disbursement of devolution funds if devolution is not real.
“My question is whether devolution is real or cosmetic. You said it's cosmetic and ornamental. I just wanted to find out if it's cosmetic, if it's not real, why do local authorities complain about late disbursement of devolution funds?” he questioned.
Harare Residents Trust director Precious Shumba requested the Local Government ministry for an update on the enactment of a standalone devolution Act.
“From the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, kindly share updates on the progress of enacting an Act of Parliament on devolution in Zimbabwe,” Shumba submitted.
Local Government and Public Works representative, Melania Mubeza, said Zinara handled trunk roads, while local roads fell under councils.
She said Statutory Instrument 170 made road maintenance a minimum service that councils must provide.
“Zinara's duty is to maintain trunk roads and local roads belong to the road department. So it is the duty of Bulawayo City Council to maintain the local roads; it’s its mandate to do that. According to Statutory Instrument 170, it says water supply and road maintenance are among the bare minimum services that it should provide for local people,” Mubeza said.
Bulawayo ward 5 councillor and vice-chairperson of the Finance and Development Committee, Dumisani Nkomo, said councils lost the capacity to maintain roads when they lost the power to collect vehicle licensing revenue in the 1990s.
He argued that devolution will remain theoretical without legal alignment and fiscal reform.
“In the 70s and 80s, the Motor Vehicle Licensing Act empowered local authorities to collect revenue from motor vehicle licensing. And it was such revenue stream that gave local authorities capacity to maintain roads, but under the current legislative framework, local authorities have no power to collect revenue,” Nkomo said.
“There must be an enabling Act, enabling Devolution Act. You must align the Urban Councils Act to chapter 14 of the Constitution. You must align the Rural District Councils Act to the Constitution, you must align the Traditional Leaders Act to the Constitution, you must align the Public Finance Act to the Constitution for devolution to be a reality.”
He added that NDS 2 notes that “the formula and system of disbursing funds is slow and inefficient.”