The First Secretary and President E.D Mnangagwa said the devolution programme emphasises the growth of local economies and economic empowerment of communities He said this at the third Principals Executive plenary meeting of Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) at State House in Harare yesterday. President Mnangagwa is on record saying the devolution agenda is not a political empowerment tool but a means to achieve equitable economic development in all the country’s provinces. During his opening remarks, President Mnangagwa said that the devolution programme emphasises the growth of local economies and economic empowerment of communities He said Government remains committed to the devolution process as shown President Mnangagwa further highlighted that the funds that have been allocated to local authorities are being directed towards Covid-19 related facilities such as water and sanitation, isolation, quarantine and treatment centres. “Thus locally generated resources will be used to develop local economies, with provincial economies having disaggregated Growth Domestic Product GDPs,” he said. President Mnangagwa went on to say that, “the full devolution process will come into effect once the Constitutional Amendment No 2 Bill is passed in Parliament.” During the 2018 harmonised elections campaign season, President Mnangagwa encouraged the nation’s provinces including the two metropolises to show their strength. He has always preached that there should be productivity competition between all the provinces, with each province being supported Last week, President Mnangagwa was addressing Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, where he highlighted that devolution is an important building block to the achievement of vision 2030.