Tinaani Nyabereka
Gweru- The Zimbabwe Heads of Christians Denominations (ZHCOD) last week engaged government departments on devolution processes as part of efforts to ensure the establishment of a developmental framework towards uplifting communities in the province.
The engagement was held under the theme ‘Strengthening the role of the church in promoting social cohesion and civic participation within the devolution processes’.
However the concept of devolution seeks to decentralize resources to provinces in order to stimulate development in areas which are lagging behind.
Speaking during the engagement Midlands Assistant District Development Coordinator Tarisai Mudadigwa said it was crucial for the church to be actively involved in governance issues.
“There is need for the church to be actively involved in governance issues by participating in all engagements, just as we are doing today here. Churches leaders you have an influential role to play in stimulating community involvement in developmental initiatives.
“Devolution starts at ward level that is budget consultations ward committee meetings because your voices matters. If a meeting is called in your ward attend, don’t say it is political or partisan, attend it,” said Mudadigwa.
He further encouraged the church to harness developmental initiatives to bridge poverty gaps.
“The impact of devolution is felt in areas which are lagging behind. In areas where devolution is being implemented, changes have been noticed. We now have roads, schools, water facilities among other infrastructure.
“If you don’t harness developmental opportunities, you won’t see the impact devolution has, if we develop an attitude things won’t move. Let’s embrace what is at hand, put it to test and assess results,” he added.
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs representative who is also the Member of Parliament for Gweru Urban Brian Dube said the country was still facing same problems due to failure by office bearers to implement policies.
“42 years after Independence and people are still complaining, well it simply shows that those in power are not willing to implement the policies needed for development to take course.
“The principle of devolution is centred on channelling resources into the provinces so that such areas are able to develop. As long as local resources are not utilised, the principle of devolution will take time to produce results. It is the responsibility of everyone to make a follow up on issues of devolution, everyone has a right and responsibility to monitor the use of devolution funds. It’s funny to note that in Zimbabwe we have people who love their parties more than their country to the extent that they don’t take national matters seriously,” Dube said.
However he added that there were contradictions in the national constitution regarding the functions of provincial councils.
“There is contradiction on the issue of our provincial council as highlighted in section 265 of the constitution of Zimbabwe. Those seating in the provincial council as your MPs are supposed to go and seat in Parliament representing their provinces. So it was noticed that contradiction is there, sometimes the dates of provincial councils may clash which then contradicts with those of Parliament.
“The same office bearers would then be required to seat in the two councils and this requires allowances. So there is need for that section to be rectified because we did not see that error when we crafted our constitution. One thing the church must understand on the principle of devolution is that, devolution started in 1980 soon after independence. Devolution is not a new thing in Zimbabwe and it is there to stay,” he added.
Ministry of Mines provincial deputy director Takudzwa Muzopa said as a Ministry their doors were open for the church.
“Our doors are open and we want to work with the church in the mining sector. If you want to own a mine claim, we are here to assist you with all the necessary registrations. On the mines in Shurugwi, I heard someone asking about the issue of the road at Boterekwa, we attended to the issue and the mines there have title deeds. What we then did was to remove those who were now mining towards the roads in order to minimize infrastructure damages.
“As a ministry, we are closely monitoring all mining activities in the province and working with other organizations such as Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and Mines Minerals Cooperation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) among other players,” he said.
The principle of devolution has been described as a noble idea towards national development, though the manner in which it is implemented leaves a lot to be desired as communities are usually left out in decision making on matters that affect them and thus no consultations are done.
