By Shamiso Ndangana
Gutu United Residents and Ratepayers Association (GURRA) executive director Lloyd Mupfudza has called for the introduction of a new Bill that will fulfil the aspirations of Section 270(2) of the Constitution.
Mupfudza is of the view that the recently gazetted Provincial Councils and Administration Amendment Bill is diluted and should be repealed.
He said the current Bill will not help achieve the type of devolution that is mentioned in the constitution.
Speaking during a panel discussion on OpenParly Indepth, the GURRA director said the Bill gives the President and the Minister power of discretion on whom to devolve power to.
“First and for most, the Provincial Council and Administration Bill should be repealed altogether because the Bill was meant for a different context. What we need right now is a completely new and undiluted Bill to fulfil the requirements of the constitution.
“We have also noted that the bill talks of the ministers and President determining which council to devolve power to. Our view is that the Provincial and Metropolitan Council should argument competence and should all enjoy the power to avoid discrimination,” Mupfudza said.
Mupfudza also added that devolution should show uniformity across the nation.
“The devolved power and its responsibilities should be uniform throughout the whole country,’’ he said.
Speaking on the same issue, MacDonald Munyoro from the National Association of Youth Organisations (NAYO) urged the youth to take interest in the matter because it is bringing power to the people.
“With devolution, the idea is to bring power to the people and to get people more involved with decisions that are made in their provinces within their communities.
“l think for young people, we need to take much interests in issues of devolution because with devolution we are trying to move away power from the centre and other parts of the government.
“What it means for us as young people is that we have a greater chance of influence in decisions as government devolves. Apart from influencing decisions, it also means that we have more space at the local levels as young people which we engage in and within the provincial council we also find each of them have very important mandates to make around service delivery and around the welfare of the people in those provinces”, he said.
