PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING IN ZIMBABWE: EXPERIENCES AND REFLECTIONS FROM HARARE CITY COUNCIL (Published)
Participatory budgeting (PB) presents a direct-democracy approach to budgeting. It offers residents an opportunity to learn about Harare City Council operations and to debate and influence the allocation of public resources. PB incontrovertibly strengthens all-encompassing governance by giving marginalised and excluded groups the chance to have their voices heard and to influence public decision making vital to their interests. Therefore, PB remarkably promotes good governance. PB faces a lot of challenges in local authorities in Zimbabwe. There is serious lack of residents’ participation in policy and decision making in council budget formulation. The residents are marginalised. The study found that there are massive institutional capacity, financial and human resources capacity gaps at Harare City Council. The policy, legal and institutional frameworks do not support PB. The study recommends that the legal instruments be amended, e-governance system be installed and the councillors should be capacitated through capacity building programmes
Keywords: Budgeting, Governance, Harare City Council, Participation, Participatory budgeting
