Melinda Kusemachibi
Various stakeholders have called upon local authorities to consider with greater importance the input of residents and communities when they make decisions on devolution funds if ever the projects are to focus on their priorities.
Speaking during a meeting held on April 5, 2022 at Chevron Hotel, Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) Chiredzi district chairperson Hatienzaniso Zayapi said citizens need to be invited when council is taking part in the budget and devolution funds consultations.
“We want to be invited to be part and parcel of the consultations be it devolution or budget consultations. We supplied our contact information to council but we are not informed to be part of the consultations,” said Zayapi.
Women Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) chairperson Joyce Mhungu said that limited access to resources has led to women being victimized.
“We need to be consulted as women during budget and devolution funds consultations because our priorities may differ from that of men. Water in our city is a major issue and council promised to drill ten boreholes but to date only three have been drilled.
“In conclusion, l would say budget and devolution funds consultations should involve everyone,” said Mhungu.
Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers (MURRA) Director Anoziva Muguti said they wrote a petition sometime last year to parliament over issues of poor service delivery in Masvingo.
“When council started taking about devolution funds, doing projects they did not consult residents and we tried to engage them and wrote letters so that we do meetings but after realizing their unwillingness, we wrote a petition to parliament. During the hearing, Mayor Cllr Collen Maboke agreed over the issue saying there is no law which talks about consulting residents over devolution funds,” said Muguti.
The objective of the intervention is to promote church participation in the ongoing Zimbabwe devolution and decentralization processes.
