Concerns have been raised over the failure of the government to meet the five percent Constitutional threshold for the devolution fund since the introduction of the Inter-Governmental Funds Transfer in 2019.
Between 2019 and 2023, the fund allocation ranged from only 0.5 percent to 2.9 percent, far below the required five percent.
According to Section 301(3) of the Constitution, no less than five percent of national revenue raised in any given financial year must be allocated to provinces and local authorities. However, this constitutional mandate has not been adhered to, leading to widespread concern about the state of devolution funding and commitment to empower provinces.
These issues were highlighted in a post-budget analysis report by the Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.
The report, presented by Supa Mandiwanzira, noted that the Ministry of Local Government also accounts for the constitutional and statutory allocation of Inter-Governmental Fiscal Transfers (Devolution) funding, which had a total allocation of ZiG 2,256,266,632.00 (ZiG 2.2 billion), representing five percent of the estimated national revenue.
Despite this allocation, Mandiwanzira said the actual disbursements have never met the five percent threshold mandated by Section 301 of the Constitution.
“Since its introduction in 2019, the devolution funds have never reached the five percent of annual revenue as provided under Section 301 of the Constitution but have ranged between 0.5 percent and 2.9 percent,” Mandiwanzira.
The committee called on the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion to prioritise the disbursement of Intergovernmental Funds in 2025, guided by the May 2024 Devolution Manual.
“Devolution funds are now the life line and a key compliment for all local authorities across the country as they endeavour to provide services, hence the prioritisation of devolution funds in the 2025 fiscal year is of utmost importance,” Mandiwanzira said.
While the 2025 Budget is set to meet the five percent requirement, the committee expressed concern that “the daunting prospect will be that of disbursement and cash release by the Treasury.”
Reaction to the matter, analyst Future Msebele, also a former ZAPU Treasurer General, criticised both the ruling party and the opposition for treating the Constitution as a mere suggestion. “There is no political will to fully implement devolution,” Msebele said.
“The range of 0.5 percent to 2.9 percent is negligible. Since politicians are unwilling to fully implement devolution, it is up to civil society to push the government to realise this progressive concept.”
Activist Chilumbo Mudenda also voiced strong criticism of the government’s approach to devolution, arguing it fundamentally misunderstands the concept.
“Devolution is being done in the opposite direction, the Government of Zimbabwe does not understand the meaning of devolution of power,” he claimed.
“Devolution is power is decentralisation of social, political and economic powers down to the respective provinces.”
The activist added that the five percent allocation fails to constitute the actual demands of the provincial level, calling for further amendment of Section 301.
“Even the constitution has to be amended – Section 301 concerning the five percent because it’s nothing,” he said.
Mudenda said the central government should not be collecting revenue from the provinces and centralising it in Harare.
“Instead, provinces should be collecting their own revenue and remitting a portion to the central government,” he explained.
Mudenda further pointed out that in places like Beitbridge, revenue is collected in foreign currency, such as Rands and US dollars, but is then converted into ZiG when it is sent back to local councils.
“This is a distortion of the devolution process. The government is not understanding what true devolution of power means,” he added.
“We are seeing devolution of power at play in South Africa, where every province has the right, powers to execute, appropriate its resources with the central government regulating the remittances. The rest of the revenues are left at provincial level but the Zimbabwean government is doing it the opposite way.”
Meanwhile, the committee also addressed the 2024 Ministry of Local Government and Public Works’ budget performance.
The Ministry was allocated a revised total of ZiG 1,523,250,491.00 (ZiG 1.52 billion) for the year, significantly lower than its original budget bid of ZiG 4,304,359,573,811.00 (ZiG 4.3 billion), amounting to just four percent of the expected budget.
Despite this, the Ministry only used 57 percent of its allocated funds, largely due to low disbursements from the Treasury.
The Ministry’s performance was further affected by a volatile inflationary environment and external factors like the El Niño-induced drought.
However, despite these challenges, the Committe said the local government ministry managed to achieve some notable successes, including the facilitation of construction projects under the New City initiative, approval of designs for infrastructure projects, and the completion of master plans for areas such as Tugwi-Mukosi, Manhize and Kanyemba.
“Furthermore, the Ministry successfully hosted the 44th SADC Session, among other key achievements. The major component of the Ministry budget was for goods and services which incurred a major cost driver in the form of hire and rental expenses for State occasions,” Mandiwanzira said.
