Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) programmes manager Claude Phuti said the absence of enabling legislation and inconsistencies between existing laws and the Constitution were hampering devolution. The post Councils demand revenue powers to make devolution work appeared first on newsday .
BULAWAYO, Aug. 31 (NewsDay Live) — Local authorities and residents’ groups have called for greater control over revenue, warning that Zimbabwe’s devolution programme risks remaining largely ineffective if councils are given responsibilities without adequate fiscal autonomy.
They say Parliament must urgently align laws governing local authorities with the Constitution to give councils greater authority to raise and manage revenue for service delivery.
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) programmes manager Claude Phuti said the absence of enabling legislation and inconsistencies between existing laws and the Constitution were hampering devolution.
“Without that act, we will continue having laws that are not harmonised and tiers of government that do not know how to engage with each other,” Phuti said.
“Harmonisation or constitutional alignment is actually a necessity for devolution to be implemented.”
Zimbabwe’s devolution programme provides for financial transfers from central government to provincial and local authorities to fund infrastructure and public services.
Section 301 of the Constitution provides for the allocation of at least 5% of national revenues raised in any financial year to provinces and local authorities.
Under the 2026 national budget, the government allocated more than ZiG14 billion to provincial and local authorities under devolution.
The funds are primarily directed towards capital projects, including the construction and rehabilitation of schools, clinics, roads, water and sanitation infrastructure, rather than councils’ recurrent expenditure.
However, local government leaders and civic groups argue that financial transfers from Treasury alone do not amount to full fiscal devolution, saying councils also need greater authority over their own revenue streams.
Bulawayo Ward 5 councillor Dumisani Nkomo said the current framework left local authorities with significant service-delivery responsibilities but limited financial autonomy.
“There is no enabling act and without it, it becomes difficult for the local authority to make decisions in terms of funds without informing the central government,” Nkomo said.
He cited vehicle licensing revenue as an example of a funding stream that previously strengthened councils’ capacity to maintain local roads.
“That revenue stream gave local authorities actual capacity to maintain roads, but under the current legislative framework, local authorities have got the responsibility with no power to actually collect revenue,” he said.
Nkomo said Parliament should align the Urban Councils Act, Rural District Councils Act, Traditional Leaders Act and Public Finance Management Act with Chapter 14 of the Constitution, which provides for provincial and local government.
“There must be an enabling act, an enabling devolution act, in order for devolution to be a reality,” he said.
The calls come 13 years after Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution introduced provisions for devolution.
Section 264 provides for the devolution of governmental powers and responsibilities to provincial, metropolitan and local authorities, with objectives that include giving local communities greater control over matters affecting them.
BPRA maintains that without greater fiscal autonomy, councils will remain heavily dependent on central government disbursements, limiting their ability to plan and deliver services effectively.
The post Councils demand revenue powers to make devolution work appeared first on newsday.
