Factors Affecting Citizen Participation in Local Development Planning in Murewa District,Zimbabwe

Abstract

Local governments are the bedrock for sound public administration because of their role in promoting bottom-up socio-economic development. Although Zimbabwe has made strides in ensuring citizens’ participation in local government processes, local authorities and other stakeholders still rely on the top-down approaches, marginalising the needs of the local citizens. The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors that affect the active participation of citizens in local governance in the Murewa District in Zimbabwe. Based on a multistage sampling approach, involving purposive sampling and stratified random sampling, interviews were conducted with 30 local government officials, while a questionnaire survey was administered to 396 citizens in four wards within the district. Complementary data were collected through focus group discussions and field observations. Thematic analysis was employed on data generated from interviews, focus group discussions and field observations, while the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (Version 16) was used to analyse quantitative data from the questionnaire survey. The results show that more than 50% of the residents in the district felt that local government leadership side lined them in development planning. Some citizens reported that officials used development planning meetings to further their political agendas. The study recommends enhancement of citizen participation through citizen empowerment programmes such as educational and political leadership training programmes that transform the marginalised communities into autonomous communities that are capable of determining their own destiny.

Keywords

Citizen participation development planning local authority Murewa district Rural District Council

Introduction and background

In most developing countries, community development depends on citizen participation. Citizen participation in regions such as Africa is unclear and undocumented (Ronoh et al., 2018). However, a few scant studies conducted in Africa show a public reluctance to participate in community development (Chikerema, 2013; Ronoh et al., 2018). Makumbe (1996) posits that there is no shortage of material dealing with participation in general or with political participation. Makumbe (1996) further states that citizens need to be empowered to determine the direction and context of development within their environment and this is not happening in most African countries. Vyas-Doorgapersad (2009) reports that there are a number of challenges, especially at local levels, that limit the engagement of citizens in interventions that affect their lives. Unfortunately, the spectrum of such constraints is not commonly shared. Some argue that citizen participation is a matter of constitutional limitations (Vyas-Doorgapersad, 2009). Ronoh et al. (2018) argue that citizen participation is constrained by socio-economic and geo-political factors. These include public discontent, citizens’ negative attitudes, incapacity, lack of incentives and political interference among others. Osei-Kufour and Koomson (2014) state that citizen participation may stimulate community development and reduce poverty. Surveyed literature shows divergent views and limited empirical evidence on citizen participation in most regions of the developing world, which has complicated interventions in development planning in these areas. However, participation of citizens in areas such as Murewa District in Zimbabwe has been understudied.

It is pertinent to situate development in Murewa District within its historical context. During the colonial era, communities in Zimbabwe were bifurcated into black subjects and white citizens. Therefore, citizen participation was reserved for white minorities (Alexander, 2006: 2; Mamdani, 1996: 2). However, after independence in 1980, Zimbabwe created a bottom-up framework of citizen participation through the Prime Minister’s Directive of 1984 which was meant to stimulate grass-roots participation (Chatiza, 2010: 4). Various associated councils Acts ensured implementation of the Directive and these included Traditional Leaders Act (Chapter 29: 15), Rural District Council (RDC) Act (Chapter 29: 13), Urban Council Act (Chapter 29:15), and the Provincial Council Act (Chapter 29: 11). This meant that citizens need to play a critical role in development planning processes as the dual system that was used before the enactment of these Acts was abolished by the formation of the RDC Act of 1988. Chatiza (2010) and Jonga (2014) acknowledge these various Acts formed the modus operandi for the local government system.

However, Jonga (2014) laments the tendency of local government in Zimbabwe to perpetuate centralised decision-making constraining citizen participation. Furthermore, Jonga (2014) reports that lack of resources, competences and expertise to stimulate grass-roots participation has resulted in bankrupt decentralisation agenda in Zimbabwe. This has led Chatiza (2010) and Kurebwa (2015) to argue that development in Zimbabwe is a consolidation of powers at the provincial and national level that spurs resurgence of recentralisation of political power and administrative authority. Healey (2015) maintains that citizen engagement is only considered as an alternative to failing government services and not core to development planning, while Gumbo (2019) asserts that this is despite widely acknowledge notion that citizens are rights holders of development and who have the mandate to influence processes and to demand accountability from government authorities.

Surveyed literature shows paucity of studies to understand Murewa District. A few of the researches depict the district as rife with political violence, land reform cases and human rights abuses (Benyera, 2018; Hammar, 2003; Marongwe, 2003; Matondi, 2008; Moyo and Yeros, 2005; Pasirayi, 2016). Little attention has been paid to local development planning. Furthermore, there has not been agreement on the concoction of factors that affect citizen participation in that district (Osei-Kufour and Koomson, 2014; Ronoh et al., 2018; Vyas-Doorgapersad, 2009). Therefore, this article seeks to examine the factors that influence citizen participation in the Murewa District since 2002. The year 2002 is when the district first recorded opposition politics taking meteoric dominance in the admininstration of the district. It is necessary to determine the extent to which the participation of citizens in development planning has changed following this meteoric dominance.

Literature

Theoretical literature: models of citizen participation

In this study, three models have been used to describe citizen participation; the Arnstein’s eight-step model of citizen participation, the civic voluntarism, and the communicative action theory. These theories and models describe the levels of citizen participation and pertinent underlying conditions that spur or prohibit community involvement in development planning.

Citizen participation: Arnstein’s Ladder of participation

Arnstein (1969) proposed an eight-step ladder that indicates the various levels of participation of citizens. True citizen participation relates to the empowerment of the citizens. Participation without redistribution of power is not genuine involvement of communities. Long (2001) cements Arnstein’s argument by alluding to the fact that citizen control is determined by people’s life worlds to a particular situation. Figure 1 below illustrates the Arnstein ladder of citizen participation.

Figure 1.

Arnstein’s ladder of participation of citizen.

Levels of participation

The level of participation idea as espoused in the Actor Oriented Approach is that people may compete, support or oppose other projects. Kumar (2002) assert that there are different dimensions, levels, degrees and spaces with respect to the reality of the level of citizen participation. This has resulted in an eight-step ladder of citizen participation which helps to analyse the different typologies of citizen participation as depicted in Figure 1. Martin (2010) argues that manipulation depicted in the ladder of participation should be taken as form of non-participation. This is echoed by Lucas (1975: 142) who claims that participation empowers people to act as agents of change than mere spectators. This suggests that governance is more of an action than a mere event. Lucas’ (1975) argument cements the perception that citizens play an important role in monitoring government activities, and thus their participation is not an end, but a means of achieving developmental goals. Also, citizens are rational agents, and ought to be reasoned with, regarding what they are going to do because they are not passive but active citizenry that Mamdani (1996) refers to as citizens not subjects.

The civic voluntarism model

One of the most popular frameworks that has been used to describe political participation is the civic voluntarism model. According to Verba and Norman (1972), this model has widely been used in understanding political participation of citizens in the Unites States. The model is premised on explaining the participation of citizens in politics based on their social status. The status of an individual as depicted by a person’s education, job, income and position in society determines their level of involvement in the development of their communities. In addition, civic attitudes, the sense of efficacy, the feelings of obligations and their psychological involvement intervene in defining a person’s level of participation. High degree of political involvement may also stimulate participation of citizens in community development planning (Verba and Norman, 1972).

Communicative action theory

The theory is based on the idea that cooperative action is dependent on mutual deliberation and argumentation. Habermas (1987) argues that human rationality is the outcome of effective and successful communication. In other words, rationality is embedded in action and communication. The theory has included the way in which policy-making and planning should occur.

Factors influencing citizen participation in development planning

The existing literature has demonstrated that there are several factors that affect citizen participation and make them passive recipients of development initiatives. In this paper, we analyse these factors using the conceptual framework presented in Figure 2. The key elements of the framework are discussed below, including socio-economic and political factors. According to Kaseya and Kihonge (2016), the conceptual framework demonstrates the relationship between two variables: independent and dependent. It shows how some factors affect other variables. In this discourse, the conceptual framework shows how various socio-economic and political factors affect the effectiveness of citizen participation.

Figure 2.

Factors of citizen participation and the actual participation.

Socio-economic factors

Leadership

Citizens’ decision to take part in development is largely attributed to the trust and attitude they hold towards the community leadership. Kaseya and Kihonge (2016) note that leadership that exhibits transparency, accountability and high vigour for development may attract the interest of citizens. Osman et al. (2017) state that though most leadership in communities draw powers granted by statutes, it still remains critical that such powers be exercised in more responsbile and transparent manner which may stimulate higher degree of citizen interests.

Communication channels

Another important factor that influences the decisions of citizens to participate in community development planning is the communication system. Communication opens different levels of access to critical information among citizens.

Development procedure and protocol

Communities that have developed a high degree sense of community have reported high levels of community engagement. According to Gitegu (2016), development processes must show a genuine sense of community driven by the needs of communities. The development procedure should be more focused on bottom-up approach as opposed to prescriptive strategies. Development procedures centred around the person of a few individuals lacks sense of community. People may feel helpless and less part of the entire development puzzle.

Gender and social status

Certain individual factors also influence a person’s decision to participate in local development. According to Verba and Norman (1972), a person’s social status and other intervening variables such as gender and pyschological political orientation may spur citizen participation. People with low self esteem due to various social standings: low incomes, being community subjects and even holding low political influence tend to exhibit low sense of public participation (Osei-Kufour and Koomson, 2014).

Education and training

Effective participation can be deduced from the level of empowerment demonstrated by the citizens. The degree to which citizens are aware of the importance of public participation determines their participation in the planning of community development. According to Kaseya and Kihonge (2016), sensitisation of citizens to public participation may spur greater engagement of communities in decision-making that affects their lives. Studies conducted in most developing countries that include Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa show that while more than 68% of the citizen indicates awareness of community development they are not preview of their roles in the developnent processes (Ronoh et al., 2018).

Timing of meetings

While citizens may be willing to take part in development planning, the timing of meetings and even trainings are critical. Chikerema (2013) argues that low citizen participation is triggered by the timing of meetings that does not reflect the busy schedules of citizens. Citizen participation may be improved through proper timing of the development planning meetings and workshops especially during those times when most people are not busy. Gitegu (2016) argues that household participation could be predicted by their previous connections to political institutions, social connectedness, social status and gender distribution.

Funds and incentives

Incentives are also perceived to spark community interest in development planning. Osei-Kufour and Koomson (2014) point out that allocating more funds for civic education, provision of transport and lunch allowances for participants, and also giving financial benefits to the participants may stimulate more people to be involved in public debates and development planning.

Political factors

State policies and practices

Kamuzhanje (2008) articulates that the Prime Minister’s directive of 1984/1985 identifies local citizens as the key catalysts for any development planning process. Thus, regulation at grass roots which promotes bottom-up to development planning is the preferred development trajectory. Kurebwa (2015) reports that the decentralisation process in Zimbabwe has managed to integrate the knowledge and expectations of citizens into the development planning process. Furthermore, the state regulations are fundamental in explaining levels of citizen participation. The urban Councils Act obliges councils to advertise notices for participation. Masvaure (2016: 154) states that under Circular 3 of 2012, the Ministry of Local Government requires that all local councils hold consultations among the residents prior to their crafting and development of the budgets. Furthermore, in Section 288 of the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29:15) and Section 121 of the Rural District Councils Act (Chapter 29:13), it is required that the local government authority’s Finance Committee shall draw up budget estimates of the income and expenditure (Marango et al., 2018). This should be done before the expiration of the financial year on or before 31 December 2018. Marango et al. (2018) proffer that the budget estimates should also include the capital accounts for the next financial year.

Accountability of the governments to the public

Zhou and Chilunjika (2013) acknowledge that the bedrock of effective public administration is hinged on sound local government systems that borrow largely from the bottom-up approaches to socioeconomic development. Through the mandate that the local authorities are given by the RDC Act of 1988 and the constitution, local authorities were decentralised. According to the Zimbabwe Rural District Councils Act, Sections 71 and 88, the RDCs have powers to administer development and powers to enact laws within their jurisdiction. Prasannakumar (2012) in Marango et al. (2018) argue that an effective local government should be people centred. Prasannakumar (2012) further points out that service providers should not be accountable to government alone but also to citizens. Dale and Sparkes (2008) posit that when service providers are accountable to citizens, it increases bonding and later on inculcates trust, which is health for the community.

Party politics

Makumbe (2009) asserts that understanding local government in Zimbabwe should be perceived after the formation of the first major political opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in September 1999 and the holding of the first presidential election after establishment of MDC. The MDC managed to take most electoral seats in the urban areas resulting in increased cases of violence, assassinations, destruction of property, and displacement of people from various places of their residents (Makumbe, 2009). Murewa District is one such council in which the opposition party managed to secure political seats for the first time after independence. More councillors in this district were elected into office from the opposition politics. Matyszak (2011: 2) reveals that even today most of the councillors in urban areas and particularly in Murewa District are from opposition politics. However, traditional leaders have legacy allegiance to the Zimbabwe African National Unity Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).

Activities of social actors

Citizen or public participation has been extensively mediated through non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Relations characterised by antagonism and disrespect can curtail collaboration between civil society organisations and local government institutions (MLGPWNH, 2013). The most evident mistrust has existed between residents’ associations and individual local authorities, in part because the proliferation of multiple residents’ associations coincided with a ‘poisoned’ environment where political labelling (with or without evidence) was enough to spark conflict more than substantive disagreements about issues. The Ministry of Local Government, Public Works, and National Housing (2013) claims that the NGOs in Zimbabwe have a critical role to play in distilling citizen voices, coalescing and translating them into a language more audible to the bureaucracy. According to Khombe and Moyo (2008: 101), the external stakeholders such as these civil society organisations and external facilitators tend to marginalise the local communities in the planning processes, resulting in most of the needs of the local people being sidelined in the development planning efforts. In a study carried out by Khombe and Moyo (2008: 101) in Masendu Ward of Bulilima District of Zimbabwe, a rural district similar to Murewa District, it was highlighted that ‘the existing situation on the ground is that service providers come to the village and set up committees’, this is similar to what service providers do in Murewa District where they come and set up committees for their development projects. These committees are only functional for the particular project and abandoned later.

Methodology

Headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Murewa District has 30 local administrative wards, he is the leader of all council administrative duties in the district. Four of these wards were included in this study, namely wards 7, 8, 16 and 30. The total population of these wards is 33,427. The study adopted a multi-stage sampling approach to select the wards and the participants for the study. The first stage involved convenience sampling, entailing the selection of the four wards was based on the following criteria:

Familiarity to the researchers,

Geographical proximity,

Diversity of councillors: The wards chosen consisted of councillors from both the ruling and opposition political parties.

The purposively selection of wards also ensured that wards with different characteristics such as communal farming areas, resettlement areas, growth point and peri-growth point areas were included in the study. Convenience sampling was also used to select eight (8) focus group discussions (FGD) and to select local authority officials for the 30 interviews and make observations of council meetings.

The second stage involved stratified random sampling, which was used to select 396 respondents on which a questionnaire survey was administered. The target of the survey was household heads. The respondents were selected from all the four areas mentioned above.

A survey response rate of 99% was recorded. Qualitative data, mainly from interviews, FGD and observations, were manually analysed using thematic analysis. The quantitative data from the structured survey was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS), version 16.

Results and discussion

This part of the paper presents the study results in relation to the objectives of the research, as well as the discussion of the results. The discussion is mainly centred on characterisation of the respondents and their views regarding their participation in development planning.

Characteristics of respondents

Gender

The survey was dominated by male household heads. As shown in Figure 3 below, 65% of the respondents were male, while 35% were female. The results resonate with findings from studies that were conducted by Greijn (2010) which showed that in most cultures across the globe power is wielded by men.

Figure 3.

Distribution of respondents by gender.

Njenga (2010) points out that local authorities can play a vital role in addressing gender inequality and in building the capabilities of women by involving them in decision making, planning and management. Due to the underrepresentation of women, the Murewa Rural District Council has set up a gender desk where women are encouraged to participate in governance issues. Citizen participation implies equitable representation of both male and female citizens. As depicted in Figure 3, development planning in Murewa District is male-dominated starting at household level, which marginalises women. In this regard, it lacks inclusivity and does not guarantee the attainment of 2030 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Age

Figure 4 shows the age categories of the respondents who participated in the questionnaire survey.

Figure 4.

Distribution of respondents according to age categories.

The ages of the respondents who participated in the questionnaire survey ranged between 18–60 years and above. Most of the surveyed respondents were within the youth age category, with ages ranging from 15 to 35 years. This is due to the fact that Zimbabwe has a young population (Africa Union Charter 2006; Zimbabwe constitution 2013). Meaningful development planning is usually driven by young and active people who still wield a long term development vision (Kwena, 2013). An ageing population may foster more mature decision making, but it is less energetic compared to a young and active population. Development planning in Murewa District is thus demographically influenced by age group disparities. It is skewed towards the young and more active groups.

Education level

As shown in Figure 5, the results indicate that an overwhelming majority of the respondents (86%) had attained secondary level schooling, locally referred to as Form 4. With a literacy rate of 87%, Zimbabwe is ranked as one of the best in Africa in terms of literacy levels, and it is among the top 10 countries. Minoletti (2014) posits that the level of education, availability of skills, and experience all matter for both men’s and women’s ability to meaningfully participate in governance matters. This is the same with Murewa District, where citizens who have obtained tertiary level educational qualifications such as a diploma or degree were reported as not participating in development planning meetings, compared to their lowly educated counterparts, due to preoccupation with chores that deter them from participating. Those with only secondary level of education are the ones who participated more in development planning meetings. This may be a reflection of a shift of socio-economic needs due to changes in economic status.

Figure 5.

Distribution of respondents according to level of education.

A total of 29 (7%) respondents had obtained a diploma and the majority of them were male (5%). Literacy levels contribute to different quality of decision-making (Gaidzanwa, 1995). The higher literacy levels, the better the quality of the decisions made. In Murewa District, most of the who attend development planning meetings are lowly educated people who can hardly participate in technical matters of the development protocols such as strategic and budget planning. Strategic and budget planning processes require technical expertise such as financial prowess and a strategic management knowledge base.

Councillors

A total of seven councillors had served on council since 2002. Two of them were women, one from Ward 16 and another from Ward 7. As Figure 6 shows, most of the respondents were middle-aged or old. In total, 71.4% of the councillors were between 46 and 60 years old, while the remainder was equally distributed among age groups of 26–35 and 36–45 age categories.

Figure 6.

Distribution of respondents according to level of education, age and gender.

However, it is worth noting that in Zimbabwe there is no educational requirement for one to be elected into council, though secondary education is considered as a basic educational qualification in the country. This has resulted in the election and appointment of lowly educated councillors. The higher number of poorly educated councillors reflects a deficiency of technical skills, as well as low-quality decision-making in the district. Development planning requires high level of literacy and skills in various aspects of development, including financial literacy and management, as well as strategic planning (Gaidzanwa, 1995). It may be stated that development leadership that is not knowledgeable about these features of development planning may be less persuaded to venture into development projects that are complex and futuristic (Kwena, 2013,).

Political factors

Party politics

In total, 70% of the respondents who participated in the questionnaire survey revealed that development planning meetings that are called by the elected leaders are used as platforms for election campaigns. Some respondents stated that they do not attend development planning meetings because they do not want to be identified with any political party. One participant had this to say, ‘If I have divergent views to express, party activists who have an upper hand in the development meeting will regard me as a traitor and belonging to the opposition party’. Gumbo (2020) posits that since the formation of the MDC in the late 1990s, the prevailing political environment often leads to physical fights and confrontations in villages over party membership and allegiance.

Socio-economic factors

Communication channels

Suggestion boxes

The study found that 82% of the respondents were not aware that there were suggestion boxes at council offices or aware of the use or purpose of boxes. They stated that they were only relying on meetings that are organised by their ward councillor to make contributions on decisions made by the council. Some expressed reservations about suggestions made through suggestion boxes and noted that council officials may not take their views seriously, because there would be no open discussion leading to council’s commitment. One participant said, ‘There should be more suggestion boxes so that people cannot move long distance as this can promote accountability . . . ’. Another respondent said, ‘people need to be taught about the use and existence of these boxes . . . ’.

Similar views were raised by the Ministry, of, Local, Government, and Uganda, (2013), which reported how suggestion boxes were used as a tool for promoting accountability and for receiving information on sensitive issues from concerned citizens. The use of suggestion boxes will ensure citizens to participate through contributing their views on how council projects should be planned and implemented. Gumbo (2019) established that people were unwilling to share their views using a suggestion box, when the suggestion box was located at the clinic because they were afraid of being victimised by nurses if they drop something in the box.

Meeting registers

Council officials reported that some councillors were manipulating citizens through meeting registers. Registers are compiled for people attending meetings so as to check progress on attendance and level of involvement of the people in the district. These registers serve as proof of the councillor’s work when councillors claim their monthly stipends and travel expenses recoverable from the council. Each councillor is supposed to hold meetings within his or her ward so that they can be paid. One trend observed was that attendees of ward meetings were always the same. This has led the council official responsible for paying the councillors to question the credibility of meeting registers, which seem to be mere meeting roll call registers. It would appear that some councillors are now only conducting meetings in order for them to receive an allowance that is only guaranteed after the submission of attendance registers. One council official had to say,

For a ward councillor to be given a monthly allowance there should be proof of a register which shows that the councillor conducted meetings in his/ her ward. Only a few people attend the meetings. If you check closely it’s the same number of people and the same names in meeting registers. For example, you can see that Chimuti is the person who attends all meetings. Sometimes this is caused by political polarisation in our community.

Duplication of names of people attending meetings shows a lack of diversity of ideas from one meeting to the other. It only shows that councillors attend meetings with the mere objective of formally claiming allowances through the required meeting registers. Correlating registers with one’s allowances creates ceremonious meetings that do not reflect real development thrust, but a simple intention to fulfil administrative protocols in the district. Development planning requires complete engagement of all citizens and not biased attendance by a few individuals, as every citizen view matters so that can take ownership of the project being planned to be undertaken.

Customer satisfaction survey

The current study revealed that Murewa Rural District Council conducts quarterly client satisfaction surveys to gauge people’s level of satisfaction with the development activities undertaken in the district. The surveys are conducted at ward level. Their purpose is to encourage residents of each ward to participate in decision-making. In these surveys, citizens get the opportunity to make suggestions that the council could implement in order to improve service delivery. As advocated in the participatory development theory, customer satisfaction surveys have created a sense of empowerment on the part of the ordinary citizens. This shows that citizen participation is a means to an end. This corroborates earlier research findings, for instance, in studies by Oviasuyi et al. (2010) and Murisa (2013), who argue that local government is made effective through regular surveys among citizens. Feedback from citizens provides essential information on appropriate community development initiatives.

Bureaucracy

Respondents who participated in this study revealed that bureaucracy is a serious challenge that affects decision-making at the ward level. Some respondents felt that these bureaucrats are in control of the plans that are made at local level, thereby being relegated to rubberstamping of plans that are already made on their behalf. Makumbe (1996) notes that the bureaucrats are in charge of the finance and other resources that are needed for the programmes, and therefore, they are viewed as the ones who are responsible for the programmes to succeed. There are various layers of bottlenecks that affect efficiency or undermine effective implementation of programmes in the district. These begin at the village level where plans are developed and ranked according to their importance by Village Development Committees (VIDCOs), which may be delayed by input from village heads. From the VIDCOs the plans are submitted to the Ward Development Committees (WADCOs). At this stage, delays occur because more consultations should be done on plans that are escalated from the VIDCOs. The study established that local leaders do not always have the power to make final decisions, and therefore they always wait for responses from provincial officers. This bureaucratic protocol affects efficiency at the local level. It was reported that there is a need to build capacity among council officials, especially in how to use the communication software that was donated by one development partner in order to promote citizen involvement, mobilisation and communication about council programmes, as this will ensure timely communication to members of the public about what is happening in the district. This communication software will improve efficient communication, thereby cutting down bureaucracy red tape in the district.

Leadership

In this study, it was established that traditional leaders hold regular (VIDCO) meetings with people in areas under their jurisdiction, through which they discuss local matters with citizens and give feedback on progress made on development issues. These meetings are conducted on a monthly basis. Meetings are often well attended due to the respect accorded to traditional leaders. Most meetings are scheduled to take place on Chisi, a day designated by the chief a resting day. This day is set aside at the discretion of the chief. In Murewa District, the day that is often used as Chisi is Thursday or Friday.

In a focus group discussion, a participant said, ‘At times, traditional leaders take advantage of any gathering on the ward to address us’.

Therefore, the traditional leader is a crucial link in the way the district council works with the community. Traditional leaders are perceived as core decision makers whose input is hardly indispensable at most development planning gatherings, positioning their leadership role as pertinent to development in Murewa District.

Divergent views on district protocols

One of the findings of this study is that the interpretation of the Rural District Council Act, Traditional Leaders Act, and Environmental Management Authority (EMA) Act is a source of friction in project implementation. The apparent reason for this friction seems to be the fact that these acts are not aligned to each other, and they tend to conflict each other when it comes to operationalisation. There is discord in the way community leaders must involve people in development projects, the political, elected or traditional leaders. However, clarification came from the District Administrator for Murewa who gave the following explanation:

When we talk of development, we talk of traditional leadership as they are the real leaders of the people. The people in Murewa District understand the traditional hierarchy and leadership. Traditional leadership is the foundation for decision making and the chiefs are the centre of power on developmental leadership. Traditional leaders are appointed by the District Administrators office, through cultural and customs of the community, while councillors are elected.

Disharmony of modern development planning with the indispensable traditional hierarchy has negatively affected development planning. While traditional leaders are perceived as the core to development protocol in Murewa District with respect to their power to dictate pace of development, the same are appointed by the District Administrator suggesting that they are subservient to the local authority policy making trajectory. Appointed traditional leadership is expected to ignore district administration protocols, which reduces their autonomy to subserviency. Although the district administrator suggested that traditional leaders as the centre of development protocols, by nature of the appointment as custodian of the customers and culture of the community, the election of councillors suggests the inadequacy of such leadership in guiding development. The role of councillors appears to be duplicating that of traditional leaders, since both stakeholders operate within the same constituencies and exist for similar developmental roles, involving the guiding of local development intervention processes.

Timing of meetings

A total of 20% of the respondents from Ward 30 reported that WADCO meetings were held at inappropriate times such as Fridays or Saturdays when they were busy with important livelihood chores. These WADCO meetings are presided by the elected councillor, as they are no villages in Ward 30. Ward 30 is the commercial hub of the district as all government offices are located there. In addition, they considered the meetings to be too long because they are longer than 2–3 hours. In some cases, meetings are scheduled by different political parties at the same venue, which is often time-consuming and confusing for potential attendees.

One participant from a focus group in Ward 30 had this to say, ‘Those who fail to attend the meetings do so because of poor meeting scheduling’. Scheduling meetings when its less likely that citizens might participate results in low participation. For example, scheduling meetings during working hours attracts only a small number of attendees.

Social actors: residents’ association

The respondents revealed that lack of satisfaction with service delivery has spurred some citizens to participate collectively through the use of a local residents’ association, called Murewa Residents Association. This association is funded through membership subscriptions. Participants in the study disclosed that the low level of satisfaction with the provision of water and sanitation services was the main driving force behind the formation of this citizen pressure group, which serves as a vehicle to petition the local authority. Residents’ grievances arise from the fact that residents pay for the provision of potable water and other services, but the local authority has not been able to provide these services for several years. Residents regard access to water as a fundamental human right and refer to the failure of the local authority to provide them with water as a breach of that right in terms of the constitution of Zimbabwe (Chapter 40). As a way of curbing petitioning and protests the local authority must consult and involve citizens in the planning process so that they are aware of the reasons for delays or shortages of services.

Challenges in meeting the needs of the people

There are several scenarios that the participants revealed regarding the needs of the community and how these needs were being met. The first is related to the unfulfilled promises throughout the entire term of election of the politicians. False promises have resulted in some citizens not willing to participate in development planning processes, since some development meetings are chaired by councillors who would be serving a second or third term, without fulfilling any of the promises they would have previously made.

Second, respondents reported that there are projects they were promised by the council but have failed to take off because of lack of funding. The results confirm Sharma’s (2003) view that a local authority must reduce its heavy dependence on central government and develop its own independent sources of revenue.

Third, the discrimination of people with disabilities has marginalised full participation of the sector of society limiting participation of the community from all its groups.

The fourth challenge is related to the dominance of financial matters on the agenda of most meetings. This was confirmed by document analysis, which showed that 70% of ward minutes of meetings were mainly devoted to financial issues and less on citizen needs.

Conclusion

As highlighted above, one of the core issues affecting citizen participation in Murewa District is the type of leadership available in the area. Leadership styles, prowess and governance competencies may attract or dissuade citizens in participating in development that affects their lives. As shown in the results most citizens in the district felt that local government leadership side-lined them in development planning and even converted meaningfully development planning meetings into political agendas. This has largely dissuaded majority of citizens from active participation in development planning forestalling the development of the district. It can be concluded that citizen participation and development planning retain practical meaning when contextualised within the realities of each community. This knowledge should be used to design responsive development planning agendas that capture active participation of citizens. Unfortunately, different actors, including citizens and the local authority officials, are motivated by different reasons when participating in planning processes.

As noted above, several socio-economic and political factors affect citizen participation. Politicisation of development programmes taking place in the district and unfulfilled promises by politicians are examples of issues that negatively affect citizen participation in participating in the affairs of the district. Citizens in Murewa District are predominantly driven by the thrust for socio-economic development planning rather than by political discourse. On the contrary, leadership seems to be driven by the quest for political gains. Therefore, there is divergence of perceived roles between leaders and citizens, an element which contributes to poor development planning process in the district. Accordingly, we recommend that citizens must be empowered through interventions such as training and civic education to stimulate active citizen participation. It is recommended that political leaders should assist local communities to develop autonomous control and authority and enable to them to achieve their socio-economic objectives.

As shown by the results of this study, citizen participation in Murewa District is undermined by a diversity of conditions, including political interferences, lack of knowledge and skills in local development processes, prohibiting legal frameworks, and policy distortions. The solution to challenges imposed by these conditions should therefore also be multifaceted. In adopting such an approach, citizen participation should not be merely viewed as a tool for power redistribution as suggested in the decentralisation agenda, but it must also be conceived as a complex socio-economic matrix of a multifaceted processes in which the needs of the citizens take precedence over political goals.

As shown in the factors that affect citizen participation in Murewa District, the Arnstein’s eight-step model can be considered as the ideal model to depict citizen participation in this district. The civic voluntarism model is also applicable as citizens in this district their participation is also based on politics and social status as these are ubiquitos. Councillors as policy makers at the district level they rely mostly on communicative theory in the planning process.

Limitations and suggestions for further research

The study occurred when several issues were changing in Zimbabwe, including constitutional changes and the outbreak of a global pandemic (COVID-19). It is pertinent that further research be conducted after the completion of the constitutional amendments and the aftermath of the emergence of e-citizen in the country.

Footnotes

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Vellim Nyama

Author biographies

Vellim Nyama graduated with a PhD Specialisation in Human Geography from the University of the Free State. He has a lot of interest in citizen participation and development planning.

Geofrey Mukwada is a Proffesor at University of the Free State in Geography Department. He has a conducted a lot of researches in Africa.

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