By Cde Patriot Sunungura
The Second Republic has effectively parked the devolution clause in the Constitution, with Presidential Empowerment Initiatives led by Tempter Paul Tungwarara now the preferred vehicle for “development.”
In an interview with The True Patriot podcast last week, Bulawayo mayor David Coltart painted a gloomy picture of chaos, confusion, and corruption in local authorities that are remote-controlled by the minister of Local Government.
Regarded as one of the best ministers of Primary and Secondary Education the country has ever had, Coltart has now been reduced to a peripheral figure and ceremonial mayor, as he rightly said in the interview.
After losing control of almost all local authorities since the turn of the millennium, the ruling ZANU PF party devised a plan to punish urban voters and to paint an ugly picture of opposition-run councils.
The plan is simple: strip executive powers from mayors and park devolution.
True Patriots, the Second Republic has perfected this unannounced policy of President Ruka Chivende.
All the cash cows of local authorities, such as vehicle licensing, are now in the hands of the central government.
As Coltart revealed, local authorities only get a drop in the ocean from the collected revenue.
Last year, the country’s second-largest city only received a budget of US$2.5 million in ZiG equivalent for road rehabilitation against a demand of US$15 million.
By design, the Second Republic also makes sure the money reaches opposition-run councils late—after a baptism of inflation.
The results are there for everyone to see: impassable roads with potholes big enough to attract tourists.
As per script, the blame is shifted to the opposition for failing to run their “zones of control.”
Meanwhile, space barons—linked to the “revolutionary party”—foment chaos in the streets, allocating vending space to desperate residents.
Amid the chaos and confusion, the grand scheme of the Second Republic is for its “investors” or “tenderpreneurs” to seize council tenders for refuse collection, prepaid water meters, or vending blocks.
In Harare, the plan was executed with precision through a marriage of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and mayor Jacob Mafume.
Mnangagwa’s close ally Delish Nguwaya is making millions through the Geo Pomona rubbish deal.
The chances of local authorities receiving devolution funds in time are as slim as the ZRP arresting Wicknell Chivayo for corruption.
Mnangagwa would rather pump millions into the Presidential Boreholes Scheme, Young Women4ED, Churches for ED, and other patronage projects than prioritise service delivery for “opposition-run councils.”
