An overview of decentralization and local governance in. Decentralization has, furthermore, focused attention on the local level, as good entry point for addressing wide range of social issues including poverty but particularly lack of local development services delivery. Effectiveness of decentralization in ghana their obligations and attract able and competent officers ministry of local government. Advantages of centralisation advantages of decentralisation a fixed set of rules and procedures in all areas of the firm should lead to rapid decisionmaking. Overview of the debate over the last few years the debate on decentralisation. It involves the transfer of decisionmaking power and accountability for results to individuals or operating units at. Educational decentralization and school governance in south africa.
South africa both exemplies these processes, as well as providing some interesting counterexamples. It is the strategic framework for delivering on africa s goal for inclusive and sustainable development and is a concrete manifestation of the panafrican drive for unity, selfdetermination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity pursued under panafricanism and african. Decentralised local governance and community development. Africa shows an impressive institutional creativity. The political economy of decentralization in subsaharan africa. Sep 30, 2015 this is a video briefing drawn from the research from the renewable energy and decentralisation project hosted by loughborough university.
Decentralisation in south african local government. In this political science course you will learn about the twin concepts of federalism and decentralization. Issues of poverty reduction are addressed in uganda, ghana, malawi and tanzania, while those of conflict management are explored in mauritius, namibia, south africa, uganda and rwanda. Concept paper on decentralisation and local governance 3 enhanced. A survey of the decentralization experience in africa is illustrative of the potential for misinterpretation ndegwa 2002. This issue deals with all three of the main aims for decentralisation reforms in africa. Decentralisation in commonwealth africa commonwealth bookshop. Rural poverty, decentralisation and development kirubi maina business school nanjing normal university. How should we understand the decentralisation reforms and their consequences that are emerging in many african countries in such a rapid and drastic manner. A case for political decentralisation in nigeria a thesis submitted in fulfilment for the degree of master of arts international studies by research bowstock umaroho bachelor of science political science edo state university, ekpoma, nigeria school of global studies, social science and planning rmit university august 2006. Moreover, since independence, several countries have experimented with decentralization with varying degrees of success. In anglophone africa for example, following the success story of lord lugard in the late nineteenth century in northern nigeria, ruling through local authorities, chiefs to be precise, became the main feature of the policy of indirect rule. In short, decentralisation failed in many parts of asia and africa. The hypothesis underlying this study is that the effective application of the principles of decentralisation, to the extent that they have been incorporated in the constitutional, policy and regulatory framework of local government in south africa, is endangered by a lack of commitment to the concept of decentralisation by central government.
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. Yet, the debate is still largely carried out in a dichotomous decentralization vs. The japanese and korean experiences in managing development. In africa, decentralisation was generally promoted from the outside and.
Reflecting this shift, the delegates in arusha declared that africa has no alternative. This thesis investigates the challenges facing local government in south africa by developing a means of exploring to what extent the problems of providing basic services currently experienced by municipalities are influenced by the political, administrative and financial configuration of the decentralized system of governance. Chapter 3 how to understand decentralisation in africa jica. Decentralization decentralization is defined as the transfer of authority for decisionmaking, finance, and management to quasiautonomous units of local governments or the private sector litvack and seddon, 1999. Meaning, advantages and disadvantages of decentralisation. Nigeria, which used to be the only federal state in africa, has adopted a new constitution that maintains the federal framework. Schoeman1 department of economics university of pretoria 1 professor in economics university of pretoria. In order tocomplete its transition towards a constitutional democracy, south africa decided to renew its local governance system after apartheid. South africa s particular combination of policy changes may be unique, but its experience has much resonance with the worldwide attempts to restructure and deregulate state schooling, and to create devolved systems of. Focusing on two claims in particular, this book questions whether decentralisation does offer a significant pathway out of poverty and conflict in africa. Connecticut college for women 1971 submitted to the department of urban studies and planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of city planning at the. Decentralization of governance and development pranab bardhan a ll around the world in matters of governance, decentralization is the rage. Despite attempts by the mlg, the little sectoral decentralisation that has occurred has been on a piecemeal basis and without adequate.
In many countries, decentralization is associated with great hopes and disappointments. Against this backdrop, the panafrican organisation of local authorities, united cities and local. Decentralization in africa decentralization, democracy. The disappointments resulted from a misunderstanding of what decentralization can realistically achieve in the short run. The charter seeks to promote decentralisation as a vehicle for improving the livelihood of people on the african continent. The unfinished business of decentralisation ulb bonn. These are the main questions asked by this ids bulletin, with articles focusing on explanations for the impact of decentralisation at the local level through detailed case studies of five countries ghana, nigeria, kenya, uganda and ethiopia. Decentralization and social innovations in africa united nations. Solid waste management challenges in urban areas of ghana. Request pdf entrenching decentralisation in africa. Evaluating africa s track record from universiteit leiden.
It is one of east and central africas most powerful economies with a gdp of 60. Yet the decentralisation project has moved slowly, held back by noncooperative ministries, a lack of staff and resources across the board, and the complex details of the policy itself. Opportunities and risks decentralization is transforming the structure of governance in africa. As with the rest the upper east region, the bawku municipality is part of the savannah agroclimatic. Democracy and descentralisation in south asia and west africa. Two countries, ethiopia and south africa, have chosen a federal, or quasifederal system. Decentralisation and municipalities in south africa. Evidence from benin emilie caldeira, martial foucault, and gregoire rotagraziosi nber working paper no. A history of decentralised local governance in africa. When a part of the work is entrusted to others, it is known as delegation.
Even apart from the widely debated issues of subsidiarity and devolution in the european union and states rights in the united states, decentraliza. Africa is no exception to either the decentralisation trend or the reality of its complexity and diversity. Decentralization or decentralisation see spelling differences is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. D72,h2,h7 abstract decentralization has been put forward as a powerful tool to reduce poverty and improve governance in africa. Agenda 2063 is the blueprint and master plan for transforming africa into the global powerhouse of the future. A framework with south asian and west african environmental cases.
South africa, with instituted decentralization to both the provincial and local levels, is an exception to this rule. The trend encompasses all of the worlds regions, and includes nations rich and poor, large and small, and with very different colonial histories. Kenya and south africa have adopted fiscal decentralisation models in their constitutions. Addressing the challenges of decentralisation an increasing trend towards decentralisation 6 simply stated, decentralisation is the dispersion or distribution of functions and powers. Decentralization in africa and the nature of local governments competition called communes, despite 42 ethnic groups and these differences cannot be explained by differences in birth rate alone. This volume questions whether this sort of decentralization offers a significant pathway out of poverty and conflict in africaaddressing issues of poverty reduction in uganda, ghana, malawi, and tanzania and issues of conflict management in mauritius, namibia, south africa, uganda, and rwanda. With the german government having evaluated its own decentralization projects in countries. With more resources and time, these lines of enquiry can be both strengthened and deepened to provide better explanations. Use the link below to share a fulltext version of this article with your friends and colleagues. 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. So, there is a local level below the regional state.
Decentralisation in ghana, and across subsaharan africa, faces a number of challenges to successful local governance provision because there are a number of formal and informal actors to choose from. Though kenyas system is at its nascent stages and its implementation is slowly progressing, south africa has, to a great extent, successfully implemented. Chapter 3 how to understand decentralisation in africa. The african union au adopted the african charter on the values and principles of decentralisation, local governance and local development african charter on decentralisation in 2014. The paper also includes an appendix looking at the particular case. In africa south of the sahara, the focus of this book, there are few countries that have not implemented decentralisation reforms. Drawing selectively on the large academic and practitioner literature on decentralisation and the articles in this volume, this article brie.
Interrogating decentralisation in africa ids bulletin. Moreover, since independence, several countries have experimented with decentralization with varying degrees of. Decentralization in africa and the nature of local. Crook institute of development studies, university of sussex, brighton, uk summary decentralisation advocates argue that decentralised governments are more responsive to the needs of the poor than central gov. Five years after the decentralisation enabling act act 33 of 2000 decentralisation, at least in terms of the regional councils, has yet to be enabled. Educational decentralization and school governance in.
This working paper is an output of the renewable energy and decentralization read project, a research project epl0024691, 202015 funded by the uk engineering and physical sciences research council epsrc, the uk department of international. Pdf we document the changing forms of decentralisation in south africa from the early 20th century through to the postapartheid era. However there is always the potential for party politics to play a role when the party in power nationally loses control of local governments, a situation of so called vertically divided political authority. The implementation of the decentralization policy has given rise to a number of experiences some of which indicate that it is. Nigeria, which used to be the only federal state in africa, has adopted a new constitution that maintains the federal framework and gives more powers to its subnational governments. Elected local governments, it was hoped, would give citizens more voice in public affairs, and so drain the reservoir of discontent that feeds insurgency usaid 2009. This is why a number of developing countries have opted for reforms in which decentralisation played an important part mookherjee 2001. Most of african countries are committed for over a decade in decentralization reforms that. Decentralisation can be viewed as an extension of delegation. Saavedracostas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor in philosophy in the andrew young school of policy studies and the school of public policy. Decentralisation itself is not an objective but a means to achieve something the purpose of section 32 is to analyse whether decentralisation leads to the improvement of service delivery. There was a 6% improvement over 2012 ratings in the latitude that central. Decentralisation objectives decentralisation is also an instrument for shifting attitudes, developing and deepening skills and competencies, and engaging multiple stakeholders in the development process.
Overview of the debate over the last few years the debate on decentralisation has focused on. The aim of this book is to contribute to this literature, with a particular emphasis on the outcomes of decentralisation in africa on the two themes of poverty re duction and the management of violent conflict. Since the middle of the l980s most african countries have started a transfer of power, resources and responsibilities to their subnational governments. Nevertheless, kenya is still considered by the world bank to be a lower middle income nation, with gni per capita in 2014 reaching only 1,280 usd world bank, 2016.
Chapter 4 decentralisation and development assistance in africa 169 programme agreed upon between the government and donors, many donors provide financial resources for one form of pooling fund mechanism or another basket funds, etc. And the same goes for the two other federal states of africa, that is ethiopia and nigeria. This is remarkable, as africa has a long history of formally centralised rule which dates back to colonial times, and in some instances much. 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.
The studies in this ids bulletin represent first efforts by a set of scholars to use more innovative and incisive methods to understand decentralisation and its impact in africa. Why decentralization in south africa has failed koelble. It seeks to strengthen approaches, policies, and tools that. An overview of decentralization and local governance in eastern and southern africa kundishora, phillip municipal development partnership eastern and southern africa mdpesa february 2009 online at mpra paper no. Decentralisation refers to tire systematic effort to delegate. Indonesia, japan, peru, south africa, south korea, uganda, the uk, and many others. Goals, dimensions, myths and challenges paul smoke new york university, new york, usa summary decentralisation is a complex and often somewhat elusive phenomenon. The decentralization process, which took effect in 20 created two equal governing bodies. Africa is a continent in crisis, a crisis which is multidimensional, has both economic and political manifestations coupled with deep seated historical roots. Decentralization is a complex phenomenon involving many geographic entities, societal actors and social sectors. A study of the impact of decentralization on access to. Decentralization and development in contemporary uganda. Chapter 3 how to understand decentralisation in africa 125 321 before arguing how to decentralise. A study of the impact of decentralization on access to service delivery a dissertation presented to the academic faculty by pablo a.
The study also established that there were irregular visits. Lessons from local government reform in south africa jo beall crisis states research centre, lse abstract localisation and decentralization are frequently presented as good for women. Marko kuhn and frau simone saure, both of the africa desk of. The author would like to acknowledge the valuable inputs provided by. Problems and solutions madagascar evidence ravelohery n tahina, phd in finance,zhongnan university of economics and law, wuhan, china abstract. Paper prepared for the faoifadworld bank technical consultation on decentralisation, rome, december 16 18, 1997. Many african countries, often with donor support, have a decentralization program. For political aspects, see key sheet 12 on decentralisation and political accountability. Poverty reduction, empowerment and participation is the outcome of this workshop. Decentralization and development in contemporary uganda core.
In short, decentralization is being implemented essentially everywhere. Decentralization is not a new concept considering that in the. Decentralisation extends to the lowest level of the organisation. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and are not to be attributed to any of the sponsoring organisations. Shinohara, miyohei, toru yanagihara, and kwang suk kim. Counties will have the latitude to shift funding to new uses but they will need to make cuts in other services that are currently provided.
Executive summary in 2010, kenya passed a new constitution that among other provisions, saw the introduction of a decentralization strategy. A theoretical perspective with emphasis on the african experience by amy upton nolan b. Assessing the institutional environment of local governments in africa. Decentralization, democratization, deconcentration. Pdf fiscal decentralisation in kenya and south africa.
South africa s decentralization was an essential component of its. Decentralisation in africa and the nature of local governments competition. Section 4 concludes with a discussion of the limits of decentralisation in africa. Section 3 analyses decentralisation in the africa context.