Governance and Parliament

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Every Zambian President has vowed to decentralise governance to ensure that all areas receive equal attention in terms of development. The rhetoric has, however not been backed up by actual statutory willpower.
The constitution amendment act of 2016 changed all this as it finally allowed the devolution of governance. This was done by granting councillors and mayors the power to set the development agenda in their respective districts while removing members of Parliament(MPs) from constituency development committees.
This was meant to enhance the capacity of local authorities to initiate, plan, manage and execute policies in respect of matters that affect the people within their respective districts, according to the constitution.
This would facilitate participatory decision making as councillors and mayors are closer to the ground and their mandate involves regular interaction with their communities. It also balances economic development in the whole country. Unfortunately, Parliament recently voted to introduce a bill to reverse the devolution and make MPs part of constituency development committees and therefore revert to the old ways in which mayors and councillor's roles are merely ceremonial.
This would be disadvantageous as Parliament is the hub of democratic governance and MPs would be better suited concentrated on their duties to introduce and pass bills. They should also use their time away from Parliament to explain to constituents the laws passed and policies being pursued by Government.

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