Urban local authorities in Zimbabwe and the new constitution

Corporate Governance and the Quality of Service Delivery in Local Authorities: Case of Masvingo Municipality

“…Hence, this study examined the contribution of CG to the quality of service delivery in Zimbabwean local authorities the case study of Masvingo city. According to Mapuva and Takabika (2020), the Zimbabwean local governance regime can be traced back to the colonial days where a plethora of pieces of legislations existed, making it cumbersome to deliver services to the populace. Of note was the Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29 :15] which provided the basis for all local government operations and attendant institutions both before and after independence.…”

“…Of note was the Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29 :15] which provided the basis for all local government operations and attendant institutions both before and after independence. Community participation was limited as most decision-making processes emanated from the Centre (Mapuva & Takabika, 2020). Before independence, there existed a dual system of local governance which comprised rural council serving the predominately white commercial farming areas and district council serving the predominantly black communal areas (Sifile et al, 2018).…”

“…Section 264 sets the principles of devolution to local authorities and the modalities of how provinces will function under a devolved arrangement. Section 274 prescribes how urban local authorities will function and operate while Section 301 provides for fiscal transfers (Mapuva & Takabika, 2020). Of the various constitutional provisions, Section 264 has been one of the much-talked about because most provinces are excited about managing their own affairs, most importantly how they will utilize available resources within their areas of jurisdiction for the benefit of their communities (Mapuva & Takabika, 2020).…”

Implications of the Urban Water and Food Systems Governance Nexus for Household Food Security in the City of Gweru, Zimbabwe

“…Although the day-to-day operations are run by council staff, they are headed by a town clerk whose employer is the Ministry of Local Government. All urban council departments are supervised by directors who assist the town clerk to run the council (Mapuva & Takabika, 2020).…”

The impact of Zimbabwes constitutionalisation of local governance on strengthening citizen participation and good governance

“…While the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe has made provisions for citizen participation and good governance in local governance in Zimbabwe, events, actions and the situation on the ground shows that they are delays in implementation. The adoption of Zimbabwe's 2013 Constitution was not accompanied by a related alignment of various government elements (Mapuva & Takabika, 2020), as summarized by Mapuva (2015), this resulted in confusion, contradictions, overlap, and duplication of functions. Since the adoption in 2013, Zimbabwe has slowly introduced reforms to ensure constitutionality of legal institutes, their implementation and their adoption into practise and the input from the citizens leaves a lot to be desired, consultations have been done in a piecemeal manner leading to half-baked pieces of legislation that does not reverberate with the ambitions and desires of the citizens (ERC, 2016).…”