The long-delayed Provincial and Metropolitan Councils Administration Bill came under renewed scrutiny in Parliament, with MPs warning that the delay is holding back the full implementation of devolution and weakening provincial planning and accountability.
The issue was raised through a petition from the Mashonaland West Business Association and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches calling for Parliament to expedite the legislation. A parliamentary committee found that Chapter 14 of the Constitution, including provisions for Provincial and Metropolitan Councils, had still not been fully operationalised.
Debating the report, an MP, Trymore Kanupula, said the Bill had to clearly establish who is responsible for what between central Government, provincial councils and local authorities.
“The success of devolution depends on a clear institutional relationship,” Kanupula said, warning that uncertainty over responsibilities could result in duplication and conflicting directives.
Another MP, Wilson Maposa, said the prolonged delay had created gaps in coordinated provincial planning, accountability and effective service delivery.
“The prolonged delay in operationalising Provincial and Metropolitan Councils has created gaps in coordinated provincial planning, accountability and effective service delivery,” Maposa said.
The committee said the current draft Bill remains under consideration by the Cabinet Committee on Legislation, with outstanding questions around the relationship between Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution and provincial councils, the division of responsibilities between the three tiers of Government and how devolution should operate within Zimbabwe’s unitary state.
The committee recommended that the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs prioritise and expedite gazetting of the Bill. It also called for clear lines of authority, accountability and responsibility before functions are transferred to lower tiers of Government.
One of the strongest contributions came from an MP who asked when the constitutional promise of devolution would become a practical reality.
“Devolution delayed is development delayed. Devolution delayed is accountability delayed,” the MP said