The government has been urged to fast track the devolution process and ensure there are no power and societal bridges which can create violence with communities.
Adopted as a key component of the new Constitution of Zimbabwe of 2013 and is recognized as one of the Founding Values and Principles to the Constitution, devolution programme is largely founded on the principle of empowering provincial government councils to spearhead economic and social development projects in their areas by leveraging on local resources.
Professor Tim Murithi from the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in Cape Town, while speaking at an online event hosted by Zim Rights Association, said Zimbabwe and African countries can reap the benefits of peace through devolution.
He said devolution is an opportunity to reconfigure government, people power relations in a way that improves the relationship, the benefits and peace.
“You can have power over the people. Or you can have power with the people It is clear that power with the people is more desirable than power over the people. But for that to happen, communities must step forward and make real devolution a reality,” he said.
He further states that one of the reasons why we have violence is that the situation is unequal.
“When communities feel left out, they sometimes find other means of getting the power to be included. Devolution can help bridge inequality.
“For real devolution, people have to work. First, you need to make sure that there not merely a constitution which is a collection of pages, but Constitutionalism. Constitutionalism is when people give life to the Constitution. When they animate it. Secondly, civic engagement is key. A critical mass is needed to put pressure on the politicians,” he noted.
Professor Murithi added that devolution does not make sense for the majority of the people.
“People care about bread and human rights. So, you have to link devolution with bread. Young people must make use of new media and technologies to unpack this concept. It must be clear to everyone that the reason why we do not have bread on the table is because of the way our governance system is designed,” he said.
