Zimpapers Logo

While the devolution fund has performed wonders financing massive infrastructural development that had stagnated for years before 2017, some local authorities in parts of the country have apparently found no use for it.

It is indeed a sad irony that despite the infrastructure development gap that arose because of a dearth in investment in infrastructure caused by the halting of foreign support amid illegal western sanctions and their adverse impact in curtailing local capacity to build roads, schools, dams, clinics and so on, some councils are failing to utilise the money that has been set aside by the Government to fill that gap.

A team led by Local Government and Public Works Deputy Minister Marian Chombo on Thursday and Friday toured Nkayi and established that the local authority was sitting on $2 million that it should have been spent on development projects in the district. The team also established that the council had just started building two clinics and, instead of drilling a borehole for the benefit of the community, drilled one on its premises.

Deputy Minister Chombo was unhappy with the state of affairs in Nkayi.

“Right now, in Nkayi we discovered that there is money that was allocated by Government and has not been used,” she said.

“It is losing value each and every day so we are urging the local authorities to use the devolution funds expeditiously. They got about $7 million some of it they got it last year in December and the second disbursement was in July. We went on a tour of the projects that are being undertaken and we are not happy because most of the projects were started two months ago and they still have a lot of money that they haven’t utilised. They have about $2 million still sitting in the bank and is losing value. We are not happy at the rate they are utilising the money.”

Chief Director Responsible for Rural Local Authorities in the ministry, Mr Christopher Shumba, said a number of local authorities in Matabeleland North were dragging their feet when it comes to implementing of devolution projects.

“There is dragging of feet by many councils and this council is one of them. The local MPs were the first to complain, they don’t think that what is coming to Nkayi is being used properly. They are not happy and when we met councillors, they were equally not happy,” he said.

On being inaugurated in November 2017, President Mnangagwa made it clear that devolution, enshrined in the Constitution that was enacted in 2013, would be implemented without delay. The devolution agenda is meant to promote national development by building and rehabilitating infrastructure countrywide. Identification of projects to be undertaken is done by communities themselves, instead of the old practice when prioritisation was a top-down affair. When communities come up with projects they want done in their areas, they tend to take more ownership in them than when others prioritise for them. Also, by being given that important responsibility of identifying local projects, communities get empowered.

This year, the Government has earmarked $2,9 billion for local authorities and so far $290 million has been given to local authorities. Dozens of dams, roads, schools and clinics have been built in various provinces on a scale that had not been witnessed between 2000 and 2018. Lives of people have been vastly improved. Access to health services, education, water and others has been boosted.

However, as Deputy Minister Chombo said, Nkayi and a few other local authorities have astonishingly not spent all the money they were supposed to have spent. It is not a case of them failing to qualify. They applied for the money and the money was disbursed but is not being used.

We are deeply unhappy about this, as the deputy minister is.

We suggest that the Government goes down to establish why some councils are not using the devolution funds to improve infrastructure and the lives of our people. If officials are found to be sleeping on duty, we demand that they be taken to task, even if it means having them disciplined very strongly.