Despite assurances by President Emmerson Mnangagwa that he will ensure devolution is implemented, ZAPU leader, Dumiso Dabengwa is not convinced power will be decentralised as per the wish of citizens.

Zapu secretary for policy and strategy, Sakhile Sibanda said the inclusion of devolution in the constitution gave people hope that power will be distributed to all provinces but as a party they are sceptical of the Zanu PF leader’s sincerity.

“The results of the Constitutional Parliamentary committee (COPAC) public consultation confirmed the popularity of devolution. The inclusion of Devolution in the 2013 Constitution Chapter 14 gave many people hope of transferring power from the centralised and corrupt system of government to the people to manage their own affairs in their localities,” she said.

She said  after five years of Zanu PF government’s dithering  and even threats to scrap devolution provision by amending the constitution, President Emmerson Mnangagwa took advantage of devolution sentiments in his 2018 election campaign trail promising to enact legislation to establish and operationalise Constitutional provisions if he won the elections.

“Mnangagwa’s government is quickly moving to fulfill their promise by introducing the Devolution Bill in Parliament. There has been mixed reactions to the Bill and confusion about the final shape of the proposed devolution,” she said in  a statement.

“The public seems to be taken in by the rhetoric of “Power to the People” and the dream of having communities take control over their local affairs and resources.”