Govt hasn’t demonstrated political will on decentralisation policy – MPs

Govt hasn’t demonstrated political will on decentralisation policy – MPs
By Ernest Chanda
Sun 29 Nov. 2009, 04:00 CAT

THE parliamentary committee on local governance, housing and chiefs' affairs has observed that the government has not demonstrated enough political will to implement the decentralisation policy.

The report, which was presented to Parliament on Friday by Moomba UPND member of parliament Vitalis Mooya, stated that decentralisation was a political process, which required high level political will, and the support of stakeholders.

“Since the policy was launched in 2004, no significant work has been done. They are disappointed that the Decentralisation Implementation Plan has not been approved despite having been submitted to Cabinet in July 2006 for consideration,” the report stated.

”The central government must demonstrate political will to engage in shared exercise of power and authority. Secondly, the civil service must be willing to facilitate the transfer of power and authority, functions and requisite resources to local authorities. Further, local authorities and communities themselves must have enough civic will and capacity to take over the decentralised functions.”

The report further stated that Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Joshua Kanganja submitted to the committee that the implementation process had stalled due to non-approval of the Decentralisation Implementation Plan.

Dr Kanganja submitted that the non-approval of the plan was interpreted by most stakeholders as a sign of waning commitment by the government.

He revealed that as a result, many stakeholders including government ministries and cooperating partners had minimised their participation in the process.

The Committee recommended in its report, among other things, that “the government should demonstrate political will and make its position clear on the status of the Decentralisation Implementation Plan which is gathering dust at Cabinet office.

And earlier supporting the report, Chongwe MMD member of parliament Sylvia Masebo warned the government on the dangers of ignoring the decentralisation policy.

“Let me give a timely warning to government, that if you don't show leadership on the decentralisation process, the results will be too drastic to bear. This is a good policy for which Zambians expect you to show leadership and do what people have been waiting for,” said Masebo.