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Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
BULAWAYO residents have called for devolution of power and decentralisation of operations of parastatals if the country’s public entities are to be resuscitated and run efficiently.

Discussing the Public Entities Corporate Governance Bill with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Economic Development, Bulawayo residents said centralisation of operations paralysed most State enterprises.

The committee, chaired by MP David Chapfika was in Bulawayo for a provincial public hearing on the Bill, which seeks to provide good corporate governance of public entities and streamline the responsibilities of line ministries to effectively monitor, supervise and oversee the management of operations of State enterprises.

Residents emphasised the need for strengthening the corporate governance system within parastatals.

Mr Alfred Ncube said: “We acknowledge the role played by the Parliamentary committee in the efforts to resuscitate parastatals but there are a number of important issues that are being ignored and one of them is decentralisation. It’s the solution to all the challenges that parastatals are facing.

“As long as we turn a blind eye to decentralisation of operations, our parastatals will not survive. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development said it’s expensive without even attempting it,” said Mr Ncube.

He said the role of Parliament in the running of public entities was not clear in the Bill, adding that there should be clarity for the sake of accountability.
Mr Percy Mcijo reiterated the importance of decentralisation of parastatals’ operations, saying Government should not look at the initial costs but the benefits that will come from the exercise.

“I agree that decentralisation of operations is important. Government should therefore seriously consider this move,” said Mr Mcijo.

Mr Darlington Nyika emphasised the need to have timelines for all the strategies that are employed to make the Bill a success.

“Let’s run parastatals efficiently. We also need to identify and concentrate on key public entities that will help Bulawayo regain its status as the country’s industrial hub.

“As we engage and discuss this Bill, we should also attach timelines to the strategies that we come up with,” said Mr Nyika.

Other participants who attended the public hearing called on the Government to walk the talk on corruption and make sure that it’s totally eliminated within the parastatals.

MP Chapfika said after the hearings, the committee will submit the contributions from all the provinces to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Cde Patrick Chinamasa for consideration.

He said he was impressed with the response from the people of Bulawayo who attended the hearing in large numbers.

The Bill seeks among other things to introduce consistency in the conditions of service for board members of parastatals and allow for limited remuneration.

It also seeks to legislate the Corporate Governance Unit, which is already in place within the Office of the President and Cabinet.

The Bill comes at a time when the new Government is stepping up efforts to strengthen good corporate governance in the running of parastatals.

Most public entities in the country have been underperforming and this has been blamed largely on poor corporate governance. — @pamelashumba