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Enhancing Local Governance: the efficacy of bilateral cooperation1 By: Peter K. Lolojih BA, MPA [email protected] University of Zambia, Political and Administrative Studies Department

Abstract

From 1964 to date the Government of the republic of Za mbia has instituted various reforms aimed at enhancing effective governance at the local level. This article argues that the government’s desire to institute an efficient and effective local government system, over the years, has not been accompanied by appropriate, serious and committed efforts. Activities of central government, through various policies and directives, have instead undermined the potential effectiveness of the local government system and helped to sustain, among other things, the local aut horities’ financial dependence on central government. Specifically the article utilizes some of the findings from the research component of the Co-operation for District Development (CDD) pilot project that was implemented in the country’s Northern Province to, among other things, show that it is possible to revitalize the operations of local authorities if deliberate and meaningful interventions are instituted.

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This is an updated version of an article published in the Journal of Humanities, vol. 3 of 2001, pp20-45

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Introduction

Decentralizing government activities to the local level has potential to promote democratic governance in a country. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development – OECD synthesis report a decentralized government brings decisions closer to the people most affected by such decisions; promotes participation of ordinary people in decision- making at the local level; transfers power to the people and institutions at the periphery who otherwise would not have much influence on decisionmaking at national or local levels; and promotes equity by altering imbalances in national development especially in most developing countries which are characterized by uneven levels of development.1

The Human Development Report also notes, among other things, that decentralization should improve efficiency because at the outset projects would be better able to match local needs; and that decentralization opens up the opportunity for people to add voluntary contributions to amplify a project’s impact.2

Governments worldwide have, in various ways, made and continue to make efforts to decentralize their political and administrative structures responding to the realization that it is difficult to manage a country’s political, social and economic activities only from the center. The center has neither the capacity nor the time to deal with all the issues some of which may be purely local. Zambia’s efforts in this direction can be traced from as far

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back as 1964 when the country gained its independence from British rule. The period 1964 to date, divided into the First Republic (1964-1972), Second Republic (1973-1990), and the Third Republic starting from 1991 has witnessed the movement from one local government system to another. Limitations of the preceding system have usually been cited to justify these movements. Ironically, however, the local government system in Zambia has continued to exhibit high levels of ineffectiveness and inefficiency as regards its ability to deliver services. Several reasons, to explain the dismal performance of the local authorities, have been advanced by many stakeholders including central government officials. Analysis of the achievements and failures of the preceding local government systems is beyond the scope of this paper. Being one of the researchers in the CDD project I have only chosen some critical findings of the research project to help in the discussion of the argument posed in this paper. It is, however, a fact to state that local government authorities throughout the country are on the verge of collapsing and that it requires more than just mere rhetoric, on the part of central government, to resuscitate their operations.

Scope of the Local Government system

The constitution of the Republic of Zambia provides for the existence of a local government system based on democratically elected councils on the basis of universal adult suffrage. There are seventy-two (72) district councils countrywide based on the Local Government Act No. 22 of 1991. Every council is a body corporate with perpetual succession and powers subject to the provisions of the Act. The council is composed of

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all the members of parliament in the district; two representatives of the chiefs, appointed by all the chiefs in the district; and all the elected councillors in the district. There is a Provincial Local Government Officer in each of the country’s nine (9) Provinces and the Act provides that at the district level a District Local Government Officer may be appointed. The larger district councils are designated City councils followed by Municipal councils (urban-based) while the smaller ones (rural-based) are simply called District councils. A Local council is free to borrow money from a bank or by way of issuing stock or bonds for purposes of discharging its functions. Councils are, however, encouraged to venture into business activities to widen their revenue base although they may also receive constituency development grants or loans from central government.

Key actors in the local government policy process include the Minister of local government and housing, the councillors, and the appointed officials who constitute council management. The minister is responsible for laying down broad policy guidelines for the Permanent secretary and his team to implement. He is accountable to parliament for all acts of omission or commissio n of his officials. The councillors, headed by a Mayor or Chairman, constitute the legislative wing of the council. They represent their constituents and are responsible for policy making and supervising the implementation of the policies. The appointed officials, headed by a Town clerk or Council secretary, constitute the executive wing of the council and are responsible for rendering technical advice to the councillors as well as implementing policies.

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Constraints facing local councils

Section 61 of the Act outlines up to sixty-three (63) functions that local councils are supposed to perform. These functions are divided into nine (9) broad categories namely: general administration, advertisements, agriculture, community development, public amenities, education, public health, public order, and sanitation and drainage.3 The answer to the question of whether or not local authorities in Zambia are capable to efficiently and effectively perform their functions is an emphatic no. There are several factors that can help explain the persistent dismal performance of local authorities countrywide. The first problem relates to finance. Most councils have not developed a culture of being independent from the central government funding. Most, if not all, local authorities have exhibited the lack of initiative to execute economic activities that can enhance their revenue base with a view to free themselves from the financial dependence on central government. This situation is characteristic of even local authorities that have a reasonable number of well-qualified staff in key positions and more than adequate potential sources of local revenue like Lusaka City Council. What this means, in effect, is that since central government is not able to regularly disburse sufficient funds, in the form of grants, local authorities do not have the financial capacity to carry out their functions. Many local authorities even find it extremely difficult to adhere to critical statutory and recurrent obligations such as the timely paying of wages and salaries.

Second, retrogressive and ill-timed policies and directives constitute another constraint in the operations of local authorities. The government directive to sale council houses and

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Electronic Publications from the University of Zambia, Lusaka Published on the Internet by the SAP - Project at http://www.fiuc.org/iaup/sap/

the policy to transfer the responsibility to provide water and sewerage services from councils to companies are but only two examples, which have narrowed the revenue base of councils. The inability to deliver services has also resulted in significant levels of resistance from local communities, toward paying market levies, land rates and so on further diminishing the capacity of councils to raise revenue from local sources. Third, most Local authorities are overstaffed and government would like such authorities to cut down on their staffing levels as a way of reducing their recurrent expenses, an exercise that clearly requires a lot of financial resources to implement. The third component of the Public Service Reform Programme (PSRP), launched in November 1993, in fact clearly alludes to the need for local councils to reduce their staffing levels. This has not been done because due to the lack of funds required to finance retrenchment and early retirement packages for council workers. Consequently local authorities have no choice but to keep even workers that have volunteered for early retirement on the payroll. Approximately 53% of the 2001 national budget was targeted to be financed by the donor community.4 This clearly demonstrates the extent of central government’s financial incapacity. Dependence on central government funding has, on many occasions, resulted in council workers of most local authorities going without a salary for several months.

The permanent secretary for local government, Mr. Overs Banda noted that most councils had no capacity to sustain themselves financially and needed new policy direction for survival. He observed that all councils were unable to meet salary demands resulting in numerous strikes by unionized workers and admitted that after the sale of council houses,

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Electronic Publications from the University of Zambia, Lusaka Published on the Internet by the SAP - Project at http://www.fiuc.org/iaup/sap/

the revenue base for local authorities had been eroded. The permanent secretary revealed that the Ministry of Local Government and Housing had presented several proposals to Government on how to expand council’s revenue base and improve funding. 5 A pilot survey on political culture in Zambia reported that most respondents seemed to see local government as an extended arm of central government, perhaps because local councils in Zambia have for long depended on central government budget for their core financial support. And when asked whether there is “a difference between the central government and your local government council?”, a sizeable minority (42.4%) replied that these institutions were “the same thing”.6

Fourth, most local authorities do not have well qualified staff in key positions. It is very difficult to attract qualified manpower because of the prevailing poor conditions of service. It may, therefore, be argued that the few qualified staff available, in key positions, in most of the local authorities lack the necessary motivation to work toward achieving great and positive results. Given the high levels of unemployment prevailing in the country it is plausible to assume t...

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