Abstract decentralisation is a major policy item across many emerging african democracies. Citizen participation and local democracy in zimbabwean. Their explanation is that subnational governments spend a larger portion of their budgets on items such as salaries and wages and welfare that negatively affect economic growth when compared to the effect of capital expenditure on infrastructure. Segregation favoured whites celebrating being zimbabwean. Pdf we document the changing forms of decentralisation in south africa from the early 20th century through to the postapartheid era. Constraints of decentralisation, the author, professor john makumbe, looks at the pre and postindependent local government structures.
It discusses the local government system which it identifies as the most critical public developmental machinery through which beneficiary participation can take place. In section 2, i provide a short overview of the main features of decentralisation in uganda, including political, administrative. Advantages of centralisation advantages of decentralisation a fixed set of rules and procedures in all areas of the firm should lead to rapid decisionmaking. Despite attempts by the mlg, the little sectoral decentralisation that has occurred has been on a piecemeal basis and without adequate. Local government reform in zimbabwe university of the. It is based upon the premise that, to the extent that postindependence decentralisation was primarily intended to facilitate the creation of the oneparty, socialist state, it has not resulted in the evolution of meaningful. Shabbir cheema is development administration planner at the united nations center for regional development, nagoya, japan. Third world states find much promise in decentralisation. Post independence era problems that developed as a result of this dual central and local administration included encroachment on the rights and responsibilities of the weaker local. With the german government having evaluated its own decentralization projects in countries.
Clifford chitupa mashiri dphil research proposal university of zimbabwe polad 070611 1230 words 2 according to chitiyo 7 the 2002 presidential elections were run as a military operation. Post independence era problems that developed as a result of this dual central and local administration included encroachment on. Reddy, local government democratisation and decentralisation. Mutumba augustine, 2005 the effect of decentralisation on.
Decentralisation as a rural development strategy in. A critical analysis of decentralization in zimbabwe semantic scholar. Relationships between local and traditional authorities 88 3. Definitions and descriptions of decentralization used in the papers include. Decentralisation and urban governance in uganda by sabiti. Structure of government and decentralization measures 3. Jenipher twebaze of child health and development centre chdc, makerere university are greatly appreciated for their interest in the study and constructive contributions that supplemented the researchers effort.
The aim of a welldesigned decentralisation programme is to deliver effective services to all citizens and to deepen democracy through active popular participation in local governance. Centralization is the procedure by which the exercises of an association. Other institutions of participatory development in zimbabwe 62 background 62 political parties 62 cooperatives 66 nongovernmental organizations ngos 74 participation in community and rural development 79 chapter 4. Decentralisation and urban governance in uganda by sabiti makara supervisor. There certainly exists an african civil society which is actively seeking to raise the living standards of citizens as well as to promote and protect their rights and interests. Decentralisation in commonwealth africa commonwealth bookshop. When decentralization is broadened to incorporate such concepts as devolution, alternative services delivery, privatization and so on, then the resource base on the subject would undoubtedly be massive.
Constitutionalisation is thus seen as critical to entrenching local government. Decentralisation is an important part of political and administrative reform in many countries, including tanzania. Selected cases of participatory development 90 background 90. In section 2, i provide a short overview of the main features of decentralisation in uganda, including political, administrative, and fiscal elements of the reform. Makumbe, for example, believes that the introduction of the position of a pg was. A policy dialogue local government in the current constitutional reform processes is aimed to deal decisively with local governments subjugation to the form and political orientation of the central government. We document the changing forms of decentralisation in. Allocation of governmental authority and responsibility in tiered. Tom lodge thesis submitted to the university of the witwatersrand, johannesburg for. It can secure the involvement of people in political structures and decisionmaking processes at the local level on issues that directly affect their communities. It begins with the discussions on definitions and basic concepts of decentralisation and continues discussing the arguments for decentralisation of education, the implementation of. The book explores the concept of participatory development in zimbabwe since 1980.
This is a video briefing drawn from the research from the renewable energy and decentralisation project hosted. Examples of decentralisation in africa read renewable energy and decentralisation. The undp role in decentralization and local governance vi foreword undp and the german federal ministry for economic cooperation and development bmz collaborated on a critical assessment of undp support to decentralization and local governance. Thereafter, the parliament approved the laws to implement a system of decentralized government for the provision of the establishment of subnational governments and. It is wellknown that decentralising administrative and legislative competencies. In the rst instance, there is political decentralisation, with legislative functions being vested in regional or local bodies. Local authorities and traditional leadership 87 john makumbe 1. Makumbe 1996 also viewed beneficiary citizen participation as only being meaningful for the masses if they are effectively involved at the various levels of the development process. Greater political decentralization might make governments more honest and efficient by bringing officials closer to the people, forcing them to compete for mobile.
Sep 30, 2015 examples of decentralisation in africa read renewable energy and decentralisation. Two main and nonexclusive arguments might explain this infatuation with decentrali. Purpose and scope 5 and procurement reforms, informational campaigns andor political civic awareness programmes and citizeninitiated recall and referendum. Although decentralisation has been on the government of zimbabwes agenda. The impact of devolution of powers to different levels 5. The premise of departmentation, departmentaion is by numbers, time of duty, function, procedure or equipment, location or territory, product, customer, business sector or distribution channel, service, clients. Political thinkers from montesquieu to madison suggest that decentralised governance can contribute to democratic participation, better representation, accountability and. Library of congress cataloging in publication data. Objectives, forms and implementation of decentralized governance amal samir farag master degree in euromediterrianne studies faculty of economic and political science, cairo university phd candidate for euro mediterrinanne studies abstract this paper will discuss decentralization as decentralisation is not new. It is based upon the premise that, to the extent that postindependence decentralisation was primarily intended to facilitate the creation of the oneparty. Concentration of decentralized powers over natural resources.
The african ejournals project has digitized full text of. More local decisions can be made which reflect different conditions the managers who take decisions will have local knowledge and are likely to have closer contact with consumers. The duet of decentralisation and unfunded mandates jstor. The performance of decentralised government all too often falls. Mutumba augustine, 2005 the effect of decentralisation on the. This is a video briefing drawn from the research from the. Decentralization of governance and development pranab bardhan a ll around the world in matters of governance, decentralization is the rage. It is based upon the premise that, to the extent that postindependence decentralisation was primarily intended to facilitate the creation of the oneparty, socialist state, it has not resulted in the evolution of meaningful democractic governance in zimbabwe. Citizen participation and local democracy in zimbabwean local. Effectiveness of decentralization in ghana their obligations and attract able and competent officers ministry of local government.
Decentralisation of 1984 largely shaped the major changes that have so far occurred. Sineta submitted to the school of education in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of education center for international education school of education. A classical example is that if the poor are engaged in policy planning together with local governments. This official power transfer can take two main forms. Decentralization and the quality of government how does the degree of political decentralization in a country affect the quality of its government. Decentralization and governance jeanpaul faguet the suntory centre suntory and toyota international centres for economics and related disciplines london school of economics and political science houghton street london wc2a 2ae eopp201127 tel. Masipula sithole and john makumbe abstract this contribution seeks to explain the ruling zanu pf partys electoral hegemony by outlining and analysing zimbabwe sfive general elections since 1979 and the two presidential elections since 1990. A global perspective as scores of countries have introduced plans to devolve powers and resources from central to subnational governments in recent decades, the causes and consequences of political decentralization have caught the interest of political economists. According to lee and gilbert 1999, an active decentralisation policy is carried out in sixtythree of the seventyfive developing countries with more than 5 million inhabitants. However, the same word is often used to describe different things. There is a scarcity of data on local finances in cameroon, hence it still difficult to evaluate the impact of decentralisation on the volume of capital expenditures executed by lgus.
John mw makumbe, democracy and development in zimbabwe. The lack of such crucial resources as finance and an environment conducive to civic activity are, however, as the author suggests, major inhibitions to the development of africas civil society. Goals, dimensions, myths and challenges paul smoke new york university, new york, usa summary decentralisation is a complex and often somewhat elusive phenomenon. Local government reform in zimbabwe repository home. Even apart from the widely debated issues of subsidiarity and devolution in. The politics of decentralisation in southern africa. It seeks to remove the frustrating waste of money on duplicate systems, extra work, and manual processes. However, evidence from districts such as chivi and bikita makumbe 1998 suggests. Decentralisation can occur in relation to expenditures or revenue raising or both. Perceptions of key actor groups on the devolution of primary education a masters degree project by abraham t.
The relevant national and municipal actors are better able to implement decentralisation, especially fiscal decentralisation, in a more efficient, transparent and coordinated way more closely geared to citizens needs. The procedure of grouping of activities into units with the end goal of organization is called departmentation. Democracy and development in zimbabwe constraints of decentralisation by john mw makumbe. However, repeated waves of local government reforms have had little impact on the regions continuing problems with governance, and the decentralisation. A critical analysis of decentralization in zimbabwe core. Sectoral decentralisation there has been a great deal of talk about sectoral decentralisation in zimbabwe but very little actual decentralisation of meaningful powers has taken place. Makumbe, john 2010 local authorities and traditional leadership local government working paper series no 2, community law centre, cape town, available at local government reform in zimbabwe. The simplified model as shown in figure 1, provides a useful framework for. Occasional paper 15 decentralization in zimbabwe decentralization in zimbabwe frances stewart, jeni klugman and a. The confusion on the division of competences and the lack of local capabilities is surely an obstacle for the local governments to master their investment programs. The impact of decentralisation on the political process in zimbabwe is the subject of this study. Democracy and development in zimbabwe african books collective. Tanyanyiwa 17 justifies decentralisation in zimbabwe as a reaction to the dysfunctional national government which was bureaucratic and the need for a growing commitment to more socially just and. Tackling the challenge of accountability ministry of economy, labour and social policy pod kopula hall, plac trzech krzy zy 35 warsaw, poland 2728 march 2003 main issues for discussion.
Clifford chitupa mashiris dphil research proposal polad. The above quote drawn from a recent undp document underscores the need to develop a better understanding of the concept. Political thinkers from montesquieu to madison suggest that decentralised governance can contribute to democratic participation, better representation, accountability and policy and governmental effectiveness. Makumbe, john 1998 democracy and development in zimbabwe. Rondinelli are professors at the maxwell graduate school of citizenship and public affairs, syracuse university, new york. The politics of decentralisation in southern africa slsa team1 complexity and confusion in decentralisation processes different forms of decentralisation are occurring in parallel, often in ways that cause confusion, ambiguity, high transaction costs and conflict, in southern africa.