The 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe recognises local government as the
lowest tier of government in a three tier arrangement. Thus, local government,
composed by urban and rural local authorities, now owes its existence directly to the
Constitution and not to legislation as was the case under the previous constitutional
order. The Constitution assigns to local authorities the responsibility to ‘manage’
and ‘represent’ the affairs of people in their respective areas. Every local authority is
given the ‘right to govern’ its jurisdiction with ‘all’ the necessary powers to do so,
including devolved powers. Thus, the Constitution recognises that, for the benefits
associated with decentralisation to be realised, local authorities require a certain
measure of local autonomy. The autonomy which this Constitution affords to local
government is however unknown and unexplored, especially from a constitutional
law point of view. In this article, we measure the degree of local autonomy guaranteed
by the 2013 Constitution.

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• Local Government in the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe: Defining the Boundaries of Local Autonomy