By Victor Fanuel
HARARE — We The People, a pressure group of good governance activists, has proposed a new devolution framework that would see up to 35% of Zimbabwe’s national development budget devolved to local authorities over five years.
The group presented its Draft Devolution and Decentralisation Bill, 2026 through its People’s Parliament, a civic platform convened by We The People to allow citizens and community representatives to debate and scrutinise proposed laws and governance reforms.
Importantly, the People’s Parliament is not Zimbabwe’s constitutional Parliament and has no power to pass or enact legislation.
Its draft Bill is therefore not currently a Bill before the National Assembly or Senate and has no force of law.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, We The People Secretariat spokesperson Darlington Matola said the proposed legislation sought to give practical effect to the constitutional principle of devolution by strengthening provincial and metropolitan councils and local authorities.
Under the draft Bill, Ward Development Assemblies would become the foundation of local governance, with residents meeting at least four times a year to participate and vote on development priorities.
Local development plans, capital projects and annual budgets would have to originate from priorities identified by communities, according to the proposal.
We The People also proposes a progressive fiscal devolution mechanism under which up to 35% of the national development budget would be devolved directly to local authorities over a five-year period.
At least 60% of the devolved development funds would be directed towards projects identified and approved through Ward Development Assemblies.
“Devolution must go beyond the transfer of responsibilities on paper. Functions, resources, personnel and decision-making powers must move together,” Matola said.
The proposed legislation would also provide for the transfer of relevant state personnel, infrastructure and administrative institutions alongside devolved responsibilities.
Citizen oversight would be strengthened through proposed Social Audit Committees at ward level, which would be empowered to inspect public projects, review financial records relating to ward development funds and report their findings to Ward Development Assemblies.
We The People further proposes a Citizen’s Charter and Right to Information provisions requiring local authorities to make information on service delivery, budgets, contractors and public works accessible to citizens.
Citizens would also be able to request financial ledgers and project documents relating to devolved funds under the proposed framework.
Matola said the draft had been submitted to the People’s Parliament for reading, scrutiny, debate and further refinement before being taken into the formal parliamentary process.
Any proposal developed by a civic organisation remains a proposal until it enters the constitutional legislative process.
Zimbabwe’s Parliament consists of the National Assembly and Senate, and Parliament’s official records show Bills progressing through those Houses before becoming law.
We The People would therefore need to secure a route into Parliament for its proposal if it wants the draft to become legislation.
Parliament’s Counsel to Parliament Directorate confirms that Members of Parliament may introduce private members’ Bills and that its office assists MPs with drafting and formatting such legislation.
Citizens and civic organisations can also engage Parliament through its petition process, although a petition is distinct from introducing a Bill.
Parliament maintains a formal mechanism for citizens to petition the institution.
Once formally introduced, proposed legislation is subjected to parliamentary procedures, including scrutiny by the Parliamentary Legal Committee, which examines Bills for constitutionality.
Matola said the People’s Parliament was intended to provide an opportunity for citizens to interrogate and improve the draft before it was taken further.
“We are not presenting this as a finished product.
“It is a people’s working document intended to stimulate democratic discussion on what meaningful devolution should look like in Zimbabwe,” Matola said.
He added: “We The People believes Zimbabwe’s development challenges cannot be addressed effectively through excessive centralisation.”
“Communities understand their problems, communities must participate in setting their priorities, and communities must have the power and resources to shape their own development,” said Matola.
The group said the draft was intended to stimulate debate on how Zimbabwe could make devolution more democratic, adequately funded and accountable to local communities.
Because the proposal seeks to devolve a portion of the national development budget, any eventual Bill would also have to comply with constitutional and parliamentary rules governing public finances and the introduction and consideration of legislation.
We The People called on citizens, workers, local authorities, civil society organisations, academics, professionals, traditional and community leaders and other democratic groups to study the proposals and contribute to the debate.
Matola said the group’s central demand was for devolution to be accompanied by adequate resources, decision-making powers and mechanisms to hold local authorities accountable.
“The question before the nation is no longer whether devolution should exist in principle.
“The question is how we make devolution real, democratic, adequately funded and accountable to the people,” he said.
