Garwe usurped powers of local authorities as 24 by-laws withdrawn

In a major blow to the Ministry of Local Government, 24 statutory instruments had to be withdrawn after Parliament’s legal experts found the Minister, Daniel Garwe, had been illegally making by-laws that should have been made by urban and rural district councils themselves.

The by-laws, which affected councils including Masvingo City and Murewa Rural District Council, were thrown out after the Parliamentary Legal Committee (PLC) issued an Adverse Report finding that the Minister had “usurped” the powers of local authorities.

In Statutory Instrument Number 40 of 2026, the Minister was forced to withdraw all 24 by-laws after Parliament rejected them.

However, what angered the MPs even more is despite, having informed the Minister that his actions were illegal, he went ahead and published new Statutory Instruments (SIs) that did exactly the same, trying to take over powers that belong to local councils.

Presenting the findings to Parliament recently, Tafadzwa Mugwadi, speaking on behalf of PLC Chairperson, Jonathan Samukange, explained why the by-laws had to be thrown out.

The Committee had met on 29 January 2025 to look at a long list of statutory instruments, which included by-laws from the City of Masvingo on cycle licences, environmental and natural resources, public health and control of livestock.

There were also by-laws from Murewa Rural District Council on community halls, control of livestock, even hairdressers, beauticians and barber shops.

“The Committee unanimously resolved that an Adverse Report be issued regarding the above-mentioned Statutory Instruments,” Mugwadi said, who stated the Minister had no authority to make these by-laws in the first place.

“The Parliamentary Legal Committee identified that the Hon. Minister usurped the by-law-making powers of the urban councils.”

Mugwadi took MPs through the Urban Councils Act to show how by-laws are supposed to be made.

“Section 228 (1) of the Act reads as follows: ‘Subject to this Section and Section 229 and of any other law, a council may make bylaws for all or any of the matters referred to in Section 227 and may at any time thereafter, amend or repeal any bylaws so made,’” he quoted.

Mugwadi cited the law is clear in that councils make by-laws and then submit them to the Minister for approval, he does not make them himself.

“This procedure was not followed because there was a procedural irregularity,” Mugwadi said.

“The bylaws have been made directly by the Minister, whose role in terms of the section cited is just to approve the bylaws made by the Urban Councils Act.”

The same problem applied to by-laws made under the Rural District Councils Act.

The second reason for throwing out the by-laws was that the fines were illegal. The law says penalties for offences in by-laws should not exceed level 5, which is US$200 under the standard scale of fines.

However, some of the statutory instruments had penalties ranging from US$500 to US$5 000.

“Any fine, therefore, which exceeds US$200 in the bylaws is a contravention of the principal Act,” Mugwadi said.

Section 134(c) of the Constitution requires that statutory instruments be consistent with the Act of Parliament under which they are made. These were not.

Another problem was some of the by-laws said fees were payable for permits and licences, but did not say how much.

“There are clauses in which fees are payable for permits and licences. The figures to be paid have been omitted,” Mugwadi pointed out.

“It is unclear as to what amount a person should be charged in the event that they are supposed to pay. How much are they supposed to pay?”

He warned this creates a dangerous situation where officials can charge whatever they want.

“Somebody will be made to pay a particular figure, another one will be made to pay a particular figure different from the one paid by another yesterday, depending on what the relevant council will be thinking on that particular day.”

Mugwadi said this violates the Constitution’s requirement that laws be clear, certain and predictable. It also opens the door for corruption.

“This may also create a breeding ground for corruption and therefore, be unconstitutional.”

The Committee also found that some by-laws tried to charge motorcycle owners fees, even though they already pay similar fees to Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) under the Vehicle Registration Licensing Act.

This would have meant people paying twice for the same thing.

There were also bad drafting errors that some SIs referred to sections of laws that do not exist.

“The Statutory Instrument is incomplete, and there is missing information,” Mugwadi said.

The MPS became worked up after observing that not only did the Minister have the SIs wrong once, but continued doing so even after being told.

Descent Bajila applauded the Parliamentary Legal Committee for their work, saying it gives hope  “that better days are possible, better days are coming for the Republic of Zimbabwe.”

However, Bajila pointed out a serious problem.

“Yesterday (2 March 2026) I was reading Statutory Instrument Number 40 of 2026, where the Minister is withdrawing 24 Statutory Instruments because of a Parliamentary Legal Committee Adverse Report. Now, the reasons that were stated by the Parliamentary Legal Committee for their Adverse Report leading to the Minister withdrawing those Statutory Instruments are the same reasons that the Minister proceeded to gazette other Statutory Instruments.”

Bajila asked whether ministries actually respect the views of the Parliamentary Legal Committee.

“The Parliamentary Legal Committee said the Minister has usurped powers of local authorities with respect to 24 Statutory Instruments. The Minister proceeded to come up with other Statutory Instruments that still usurp powers of local authorities after this had happened,” he said.

Bajila  proposed that “repetitive violation of the Parliamentary Legal Committee recommendations be punishable or be a penal offence by this House.”

He also linked this to the constitutional principle of devolution.

“We are trying by all means as a country to devolve powers to local authorities. The repetitive attempt by the National Government to take away powers of these local authorities is being seen and observed through these Statutory Instruments. It is something that, as a country, we need to frown upon and see measures that can be taken to deal with these attempts to usurp the powers of local authorities.”

Bajila questioned whether the system was “failing to have proper and qualified people within the legal departments of all these, starting from the local authorities, Minister of Local Government and the Attorney General, or is it an attempt where someone wants to truly usurp the powers of Parliament? Hoping that maybe if we just send these, the PLC may not pay attention to detail.”

MP, Shakespear Hamauswa raised that such could negatively affect the Minister’s reputation and erode public trust.

“When you look at continuous adverse reports to the Minister and this House fails to come up with measures… it will end up affecting the Minister mentally. The Minister will also end up losing confidence because he keeps bringing in the laws and they are given adverse reports,” he said, warning it also undermined public trust.

“If the Minister is found overstepping the powers when he is supposed to be guided, then what it means is that the people who are actually believing that the Minister is doing the job to the best of their interest, then they lose trust.”

Hamauswa said under the Constitution, Cabinet Ministers are collectively responsible, so what one Minister does affects the integrity of the whole Cabinet.

Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi, responded by pointing out that the SIs actually originated from the local authorities themselves.

He defended the parliamentary process, saying it is working as it should.

“That is exactly what should happen to make sure that there are checks and balances,” he said, agreeing that the report should be adopted and they would look at improving the processes so that officers check the work properly before taking it to the Minister for signature.

“ I move that we adopt the report so that the relevant Minister can instruct after Parliament has written and gazetted, that they redo the statutory instruments.”

This is not the first time concerns have been raised about how statutory instruments are made in Zimbabwe.

The PLC has also issued Adverse Reports on other statutory instruments of the same nature.

In 2025, Christopher Mugaga, Chief Executive Officer of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), highlighted the proliferation of SIs as a major challenge for businesses.

He said they are often introduced without proper consultation and create an uncertain business environment while increasing compliance costs.

In 2023, Harare-based lawyer Frederick Nyamande launched a court challenge against the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, arguing that it gives the President too much power to make SIs and usurps the powers of Parliament.

Section 134 of the Constitution says Parliament is responsible for making and considering legislation, but Nyamande argued the Presidential Powers Act allows the President to effectively make laws that should be passed by Parliament.