ntable local
governance and quality municipal service provision and effective social
service delivery in the City of Harare.
The Association is concerned with the continued piecemeal amendments of
the constitution as opposed to holistic people driven constitution making
process. It is against self serving constitutional amendments that do
not guarantee effective local governance and electoral democracy. The
recently passed constitutional amendment number 18 does not address the
governance crisis and the highly polarized political environment. It serves to
outstretch the national budget at a time when the nation should be
focusing on cost recovery policies. The recent increase in the number of
Parliamentary and Senatorial seats will further exacerbate the
confusion in administrative boundaries and will increase government expenditure.
The Association is wary of the privatization of the process to seek
lasting solutions to the country’s malaise. We demand the participation of
civic society and the people of Zimbabwe in the making of the Constitution.
While CHRA has been campaigning for the holding of Mayoral and Council
elections in the City of Harare concurrently with the Parliamentary and
Presidential elections, it maintains and still campaigns that the elections be held
in a manner that is free and fair. The SADC community has drafted protocols
on the holding of democratic elections. We urge the government to hold
these elections in a manner that is consistent with these protocols. CHRA
stands for the principle that constitutions must be made for the people and by
the people themselves. In this regard we make the following demands:
Demands:
A people driven constitution making process as opposed to piecemeal
constitutional amendments
That local governance be a key tenet in the constitution of the land as
is the case in South Africa. This will eliminate opportunities for
manipulation expressed at party political interest. This will also provide an
effective framework for the development of effective local governance systems in
the Zimbabwe.
Repeal of repressive and oppressive legislation like POSA and AIPPA
that militate against freedoms of assembly and expression. These freedoms
are fundamental towards the holding of free and fair elections and the
citizen participation in matters of local governance.
Reform of the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29:15). The current form of
the act gives too much power to the Minister of Local Government, Public
Works and Urban Development to interfere into the affairs of local
authorities.
This has a negative impact on decision making and subsequently the
quality of services provided by local authorities.
Civic society be effectively consulted on all matters of national
importance as they are the watchdogs of the people.
Thus the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) advocates for
people driven constitution making processes as opposed to piecemeal
constitutional
amendments. It rejects Constitutional amendment number 18 as it does
not address the institutional defects to guarantee democratic elections.
Holistic people driven constitution making will allow residents to
demand the constitutionalisation of local governance and the repeal of the
Urban Councils Act (29:15). CHRA considers this as the initial process
towards the reform and development of effective, transparent and accountable local
governance. This will also improve the quality of municipal and other
services provided by local authorities. Lastly, it is the institution’s
conviction that the resolution of the national crisis is the panacea to
genuine local government reform. – Combined Harare Residents
Association
(CHRA)