Anger as Mugabe skirts devolution

Legal experts and opposition parties have reacted angrily to President Robert Mugabe's move to skirt over devolution in his speech to mark the official opening of Parliament last Thursday.

This is despite that the Constitution he assented to in 2013 provides for the setting up of provincial councils to oversee devolution of power at local authorities. Legal think-tank, Veritas, last week expressed shock over Mugabe's omission of the devolution issue when he spelt out the new legislative agenda for Parliament.

Political commentator, Dewa Mavhinga said the omission confirmed that Mugabe was not committed to devolution. Analyst, Macdonald Lewanika concurred, saying Mugabe does not like sharing authority.