STATUTES REQUIRING CONSTITUTIONAL ALIGNMENT __________________________________________________________________________________ 62. Rural District Councils Act [Chapter 29:13] The Act must be amended in several respects to give rural district councils the autonomy to which they are entitled under the Constitution and generally to align the Act with the Constitution: • When establishing districts and altering their boundaries, the President must consult the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in terms of section 267(2) of the Constitution. • The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, not the President, must fix ward boundaries (section 260 of the Constitution). • The provisions allowing the Minister to appoint councillors must be removed. Under section 265(2) of the Constitution all councillors must be elected. The provision empowering the Minister to appoint members of town boards must similarly be removed. • The circumstances in which councillors lose their seats must be aligned to section 278 of the Constitution. • Section 52 of the Act, which allows the Minister to require councils to rescind or alter their resolutions, nullifies the independence of councils guaranteed by section 276 of the Constitution. So too does section 53, which requires councils to submit resolutions to the Minister for approval. • The provisions (sections 55, 58 and 59) empowering the Minister to appoint members of councils’ finance committees, roads committees and ward development committees, also negate the constitutional independence of councils. • The provisions (sections 66 and 67) requiring councils to get the Minister’s approval before appointing employees and fixing their conditions of service infringe councils’ constitutional independence. • Section 69, which requires councils to get the Minister’s approval before delegating functions to their employees, also infringes councils’ independence. • There is no provision in the Act requiring councils to get a court order before demolishing homes, as provided by section 74 of the Constitution. • Section 71 of the Act empowers the Minister to authorise councils to do things additional to those that are specifically authorised by the Act. Under section 276 of the Constitution, councils have all powers necessary to govern local affairs within their areas – in other words, they do not need the Minister’s authority to do so. • Sections 88, 89 and 90 of the Act, which state that councils’ by-laws have no legal effect unless the Minister has approved them, are a negation of councils’ constitutional independence. Even more so is section 94, which gives the Minister power to make by-laws on behalf of councils. • The requirements that the Minister must approve levies and rates to be charged by councils negates their independence. • A provision must be inserted in the Act stating that central government has a duty to ensure that councils are adequately funded, as provided by sections 264 and 325 of the Constitution. • The provisions of the Act dealing with the suspension of councillors remain unconstitutional. 20