Decentralisation: unshared vision and political contestation in the City of Harare, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

Several decentralisation studies were conducted in the context of one political party controlling both the central and local state, where it is assumed that there is a concordance of vision between the two. This paper examines the impact of shared or unshared vision and the centre-local power dynamics in Harare which is controlled by an opposition political party. Data was collected qualitatively from various stakeholders in Harare. ‘Unshared vision’ is evident between local and central state. Centre-local power contestations are one-sided and there is  the prioritisation of political battles at the expense of serving the residents of the Harare.

KEYWORDS:

• Decentralisation
• contestation
• unshared vision
• democracy
• power

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Although Zimbabwe is not a true liberal democratic state, ZANU PF’s political mantra is that Zimbabwe is a democracy.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Steven Masvaure

Steven Masvaure is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Fort Hare. His research interest is centred around local government, governance for development, poverty and socio-economic development. Steven has experience in performing impact evaluations for various government departments. He also has experience in crafting poverty alleviation interventions.