Citizen Friendly 2021 National Budget Review

The National Budget which is a revenue and expenditure plan prepared by the government of Zimbabwe for the coming fiscal year. Ideally, the National Budget should guarantee the realisation of the varying rights, needs and aspirations of citizens, particularly the poor and vulnerable, including women, children, people with disabilities and the elderly. The 2021 National Budget was presented before the House of Assembly by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development on the 26 of November, 2020 under the theme “Building resilience and Sustainable Economic Recovery”. The National Budget will be followed by the approval by Parliament of Zimbabwe paving way for its implementation. The 2021 National Budget marks the beginning of the implementation of the National Development Strategy 1(NDS1) 2021 – 2025. Every year, we mobilise Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the general citizenry to effectively participate in all the four stages of the budget cycle which are formulation, approval, implementation and audit. NANGO, is alive to the fact that budgets should be from people, by people and for people. The involvement of citizens in the national budget process is derived from section 141 of the constitution which mandates the Parliament of Zimbabwe to a) facilitate public involvement in its legislative and other processes and in the processes of its committees; b) ensure that interested parties are consulted about Bills being considered by Parliament of Zimbabwe, unless such consultation is inappropriate or impracticable. Meaningful involvement and effective participation of general citizenry and marginalized groups in the national budget processes ideally guarantees the advancement, realisation and enjoyment of their social, economic, political, environmental, and cultural rights. This is key to ensure that the National Budget as a public policy becomes pro-people and pro-poor. In addition to this, Section 13 (2) of the constitution provides for the involvement of citizens in the formulation and implementation of development programmes and projects that affect them. To read more, download the attached document.