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Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa

Farirai Machivenyika Harare Bureau—
The establishment of provincial metropolitan councils that were created under the new Constitution adopted in 2013 has been stalled due to shortage of funds, Acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said. Acting President Mnangagwa said this in Parliament on Wednesday while responding to questions from legislators on when the provincial councils would be set up.

MDC’s Matabeleland South proportional representative Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga asked Acting President Mnangagwa to specify the work that had been done with regards to the establishment of the provincial councils. “The creation of any new structure requires resources,” said Acting President Mnangagwa.

“So, the constraint is on the issue of resources to implement that. It’s not an issue of failure to implement or lack of interest to do so, but it’s a question of putting the structures in place, which requires resources. “This is why I’ve said this is work in progress that we’re going to implement.” Responding to another question from MDC-T’s Matabeleland North proportional representative Lwazi Sibanda on the same issue, Acting President Mnangagwa said:

“If it’s the issue of whether there’s a programme or work in progress to implement a provision of the Constitution — yes that’s correct. Work in progress is there, but I don’t have the date (when it would be operational).”

The provincial and metropolitan councils were established under section 268 and 269 of the new Constitution. They will be set up in eight provinces excluding Harare and Bulawayo and will consist of the chairperson, senators from the province concerned, all members of the National Assembly in the province, women members of the National Assembly elected under proportional representation, all mayors and chairpersons of the urban and rural district councils and 10 others elected under a party-list system of proportional representation.

Other members will include the president and deputy president of the National Council of Chiefs, if their areas of jurisdiction fall under the province concerned. For metropolitan councils, the mayors of Harare and Bulawayo will automatically be the chairpersons and will be deputised by the mayor or chairperson of the second largest urban area in the respective province.

The other members will include all the National Assembly representatives in the province concerned, the senators, mayors and deputy mayors, chairpersons and their deputies of all local authorities in the provinces concerned. The councils were established to plan and implement social and economic development programmes of the province concerned and coordinate and implement government programmes.

The Constitution also requires that an enabling Act of Parliament be enacted to operationalise the councils, but such an Act is yet to come before Parliament.