National
Parliament to Summon Minister of Local Government over the Use and Management of Devolution Funds
14 October 2022
Spread the love

By CHRA| Parliament will soon be summoning the Minister of Local Government over the conduct and manner in which devolutions funds are being allocated, disbursed and spent, following CHRA’s petition to Parliament over the issue.

On 10 August 2022 CHRA petitioned Parliament over the conduct by the Ministry of Local Government and manner in which devolution funds are being allocated, disbursed and spent without supporting legislation and in violation of the principles of devolution provided in Section 264 of the Zimbabwean Constitution.

Key examples of unconstitutional actions that were raised in the petition include;
1) The Local Government Minister’s directive for the City of Harare to use “devolution funds” to purchase water pumps from Petrichor Irrigation at a cost of USD$9.3 million without going to tender.
2) The Local Government Minister’s directive to the City of Harare through a circular dated 14 June 2022 instructing the Local Authority to purchase fire tenders costing USD$464 000 each from a Belarus company using “devolution funds”, without going to tender and without consulting residents and the Local Authority.
To that note CHRA beseached Parliament to:
i. Summon the Minister of Local Government to appear before Parliament and explain the Constitutionality of its actions.
ii. Summon the Minister of Local Government to appear before Parliament and share the revenue allocation formulae used to allocate and disburse “devolution funds” to Local Authorities and an update of “devolution funds” disbursed to the City of Harare.
iii. Summon the Minister of Local Government to bring Bills that will guide devolution implementation as provided by the Constitution so that Parliament behind can enact an enabling legislation (Act of Parliament), which guides the allocation of “devolution funds” and devolution implementation.
iv. Summon the City of Harare to appear before Parliament and share on the performance of “devolution funds” allocated to it for the periods January to December 2021 and January to June 2022 by the Minister of Local Government.