Twenty-five elected members of Zimbabwe’s Provincial and Metropolitan Councils have approached the Constitutional Court seeking a declaration that both Parliament and President Emmerson Mnangagwa have failed to fulfil a constitutional obligation by not enacting a law to operationalise the country’s devolution framework, 12 years after the 2013 Constitution came into force.
The applicants, led by Jeff Tafadzwa Chaitezvi, filed the constitutional application under Section 167(2)(d) of the Constitution, accusing the two respondents of “gross dereliction of duty” and “lack of political will” for failing to pass the Act of Parliament required under Sections 270(2) and 273(1) of the Constitution.
They are seeking an order compelling the President and Parliament to enact, within 180 days, the long-awaited legislation that would establish and define the functions of Provincial and Metropolitan Councils, the key institutions meant to drive devolution and local economic governance.
“Despite the passage of twelve years since the Constitution came into effect, no Act of Parliament has been enacted to establish the Provincial and Metropolitan Councils,” Chaitezvi stated in his founding affidavit.
“This failure cannot be reasonable given the lapse of time. It constitutes an unreasonable failure to fulfil a constitutional obligation,” said Chaitezvu in his founding affidavit.
The applicants, who were elected to provincial and metropolitan councils in the August 2023 harmonised elections, argue that they have been unable to assume office or discharge their duties because there is no enabling law to create the necessary administrative structures, including provincial clerks, chairpersons, and staff.
“We were required to appoint chairpersons at our first sitting after the general election,” the affidavit reads. “We did not have our first sitting because there is no law that sets out or establishes provincial and metropolitan councils or their structures.”
The case names Parliament of Zimbabwe as the first respondent, being responsible for legislative authority, and President Mnangagwa as the second respondent, as he constitutes part of the legislature under Section 116 of the Constitution.
The applicants’ legal argument rests on the constitutional duty placed on these institutions to enact laws necessary for “the peace, order and good governance of Zimbabwe.” They contend that Parliament and the President have had ample opportunity, over a decade, to comply, yet they have passed “several other Acts of Parliament” not mandated by the Constitution while neglecting the devolution law.
The applicants are represented by Tsunga Bamu Law International and are also seeking punitive costs against both respondents, arguing that such a prolonged breach of constitutional duty “should not go unpunished.”
They cite a precedent from a 2014 case brought by former minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, which was dismissed on the grounds that it had been filed too soon after the Constitution’s enactment. The current applicants argue that twelve years is now “more than a reasonable time” for compliance.
“At every State of the Nation Address since 2013, the President has outlined a legislative agenda,” Chaitezvi noted. “Conspicuously absent in all these has been the Act envisaged under Sections 270(2) and 273(1). That omission alone shows there is neither intention nor willpower to give effect to this constitutional obligation.”
The application also seeks to compel the government to give life to Zimbabwe’s devolution framework, which was meant to empower provincial authorities and promote equitable development across regions, a key reform promise of the 2013 Constitution that remains unfulfilled.
If granted, the order would force Parliament and the President to pass the long-delayed Provincial and Metropolitan Councils Act within 180 days, paving the way for elected councillors to finally assume office and for devolution to be fully implemented across Zimbabwe.
The matter is yet to be heard.
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