THE new Constitution brings with it numerous challenges to the legislative arm of government chief of which will be the imperative of aligning at least 200 laws with the new charter.
New constitutional structures and institutions have to be put in place in reflecting the new constitutional realities while the government has to ensure that mechanisms are in place to simplify, translate and disseminate the new Constitution.
This process will not take a long time and I predict that it could take up to four years for all these structures, laws, processes, institutions and mechanisms to be fully operational and by that time the country will be gearing for fresh elections.
I would strongly advise the government that this year it has to identify the key constitutional priorities and ensure that foundational governance and institutional issues are addressed so that the country does not find itself in a constitutional crisis with citizens taking various issues to the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of various processes, structures and laws.
I would like to argue that this realignment should place a premium or priority on actualising the different tiers of the government namely central government, provincial and metropolitan councils and local authorities.
At least 200 laws need to be re aligned with the Constitution and this in itself presents numerous challenges for Parliament as well as the executive which traditionally has driven the legislative process with Parliament debating and endorsing the legislative agenda.
Former Copac chairpersons Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana and Edward Mkhosi were quoted in the media postulating that up to 280 laws needed to be realigned with the Constitution.
Most of these constitutional imperatives will result in official constipation given the magnitude of work that needs to be done.
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It would then be critical for the government to prioritise legislation which needs to be put in place or realigned.
An example that cannot be ignored is that of the three tiers of government which are espoused in Chapter 1 (Section 6), Chapter 14 and 17 of the Constitution.
These tiers of government need to be given full legal, statutory and administrative effect or this will result in paralysis of government functions and efficacy.
The Constitution broadly envisages the setting up of three tiers of government namely national government, provincial and metropolitan councils and local governments and leaves the actualisation of these structures to an act of Parliament.
It is expected that such a law would fully outline the functions, powers and parameters of the various stratas of government especially the provincial and metropolitan councils which are a new entity and phenomenon.
Local government legislation namely the Urban Councils Act, the Rural District Councils Act as well as the Traditional Leaders’ Act will need to be urgently revisited so that there is efficacy, efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery, local governance and development.
The Traditional Leaders’ Act for example creates (in theory anyway) village development committees, village assemblies, ward development commitees, ward assemblies and district development committees all of which are supposed to develop annual development plans.
There is no link whatsoever with provincial and metropolitan planning and implementation processes in order to ensure that the concept of bottom up decision-making development is effected.
There is thus a need for all these laws to be aligned to the new constitutional realities reflected in Chapter 14 of the Constitution.
Clearly the Constitution states that “an act of Parliament must provide appropriate mechanisms and procedures to facilitate co-ordination between central government, provincial and metropolitan councils and local authorities (Section 265).
The Constitution also envisages the creation of a secretariat or “civil service” of sorts for provincial governments and leaves the conduct of employees of local and provincial councils to an act of Parliament.
Specifically the political neutrality of such employees is stated (Section 266), but the nuts and bolts are left to an act of Parliament.
Legislative functions of provincial and metropolitan councils are left to an act of Parliament and so are other broader administrative functions of provincial and metropolitan councils.
Chapter 17 of the Constitution which focuses on public finance speaks to the desirability of an act of Parliament to determine allocation of resources between the three tiers of government.
I would like to implore the government to ensure that the Provincial and Metropolitan Councils Act is swiftly put in place so as to avoid duplication, confusion, chaos and disorder in the manner in which the three tiers of government relate to each other and citizens.
This is in the best interests of Zimbabwe as the government consists of these three tiers and if one or some of these levels or tiers is not functional the government will fail to function effectively.
Mayibuye! Dumisani Nkomo is a political commentator and chief executive officer of the Habakkuk Trust. He writes in his personal capacity
