Evaluating the implementation of the principles of good governance in Zimbabwe local government system : a case of Marondera local municipality

Participatory budgeting currently occupies centre stage in Public and Municipal financial management Acts. The principle of participatory budgeting ushers in a broader public forum in which crucial principles in Public financial management such as accountability and transparency are observed, thereby automatically ensuring effective governance. The efficacy of participatory budgeting is to improve service delivery through opening up structures that will combat the spread of mal administrative practices such as corruption and financial fraud whilst enhancing democratic participation and upholding the rule of law by fostering transparency and accountability and making the governments more responsive to the needs of the people. The main objective of this study is to explore the pernicious effects of having limited citizen participation in Public finance management. It seeks to examine whether the poor service delivery by local municipalities can be attributed to the lack of effective citizen participation. This will be done through assessing whether the seeds of participatory budgeting have led to the fruits of efficient and effective service delivery in the public sector both in theory and in practice at Nkonkobe local municipality. It has been discovered that the inability to provide effective service delivery is a complex challenge facing many municipalities in South Africa, and although such a situation has been co-determined by many other factors including financial restraints, the root cause of service delivery incapability’s can be traced back to weather the citizens are actually participating in the management of public finances through participatory budgeting or not. More often than not, the failure to accommodate the citizens in local government affairs has been the spark that has been responsible for setting alight strikes and service delivery protest marches in most of South Africa’s Provinces. However, due to this, this study aims to reveal that participatory budgeting is an ambitious issue that requires local authorities to focus on in order to improve service delivery through embracing active citizen participation. Recommendations as well as consequences of lack of citizen participation in the budget process were thereby highlighted