Decentralization pp.pptx

POSTGRADUATE IN PUBLIC
ADMIN.
DECENTRALIZATION AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE
SALIFU JOBE-2021

Course outline
Unit 1: Principles of Decentralization
Definition
Variants of Decentralization
De-concentration
Delegation`
Devolution (transfer)
Privatization/Public-Private Partnership
Decentralization
Rationale for decentralization

Course outline contd
Unit 2: Why/Justification for Decentralization
Unit 3: Models of Governance and Decentralization
Case studies-Nigeria, The Gambia, Sierra Leone etc
Centralization vs Decentralization
The cases for and against Decentralization
 Unit 4: Legal Framework
Central-local (inter-government) Relations
Central Control of Local Governance
Judicial Review Control of Local Authorities Actions

Unit 5: Fiscal decentralization
Reason for fiscal decentralization
Arguments against fiscal decentralization
Grants (tied grants=conditional; untied grants=unconditional; matching grants=supplements to
local authority funds)
Unit 6: Participation of Civil Society and Non-state Actors
Forms of participation
Representative Government
Empowerment
Unit 7: Women, Decentralization and Local Governance
 Obstacles to participation

Unit 8: Territorial Organization of the State
Unit 9: Political Regimes
Democracy
Anarchy
Communism
Socialism
Unit 10: Role and Political Potential of Local Government
Case Study on Accountability Mechanisms
The Role and Potential of Local Government
Administration
Service provision
Dispute settlement
Coordination of administrative bodies ie, district tribunal, wards councilors etc

Unit 11: Monitoring, Evaluation and Decentralization

Unit 1: Principles of Decentralization
Definitions of Decentralization
 Dishing out of some authority (both administrative and political)
/personnel and resources from an area of high concentration
(headquarters) to an area of low concentration (subsidiaries). This
implies reducing someone’s authority from point A and increasing
another’s with it at point B (Salifu Jobe-2013)

Unit 1: Principles of Decentralization contd
 Effective de-centralization includes the “Three Transfers”:
 Function
 Authority
 Responsibility
 A newly created Local Government Area would include the following:
Personnel
Finance
Material resources

Broadly put, decentralization is the process of dispersing decision making
from the centre closer to the point of service or action normally covered by
the principle of subsidiary (branches) Kwamena Ahwoi (Prof.)
The central theme of decentralization is the difference between hierarchies
based on:
Authority: 2 or more players in an unequal power relationship; and
Interface: a lateral (sideways) relationship between 2 or more players of
roughly equal power.

What functions should be dished out?
 Some authority
 Skills
 Competence
 Materials
 Financial resources
But there are jurisdictional differences as to what functions are to be
transferred. For instance functions to be transferred under MoBSE may not be
the same with those to be transferred by Interior Ministry.

Unit 2: Models of Governance & Decentralization
Case Study 1: Nigeria
 Has a single tier system
 Directly elected President restricted to two 4-year terms
 Local government system operates with the Federal State System
 Has bi-cameral legislature (National Assembly comprising of 109member
Senate) 3 from each of the 36 states and a House of Representatives with
360 members.
 The Cabinet called the Federal Executive Council is (FEC) appointed by
the President with prior approval of the Senate

Unit 2: Models of Governance & Decentralization Contd
Legal Basis
Local Government is created by state legislation with the endorsement
of the National Assembly. The Federal Minister of Inter-governmental
Affairs is responsible to the President on local government matters.
Each state has a commissioner (state level Minister) for local
government.

Case Study 1: Nigeria
 Has a single tier system
 Directly elected President restricted to two 4-year terms
 Local government system operates with the Federal State System
 Has bi-cameral legislature (National Assembly comprising of 109member
Senate) 3 from each of the 36 states and a House of Representatives with
360 members.
 The Cabinet called the Federal Executive Council is (FEC) appointed by
the President with prior approval of the Senate

Structure of Local Government
 State legislation identifies the jurisdictions of the local governments,
their powers, functions and sources of revenue
 There are 768 local government authorities and 6 area councils
within the Federal capital Territory. The average population covered
by a local government is 115,000 and by an area council is 61,000.
Councilors and chairpersons are elected by Universal Adult Suffrage
(18 yrs above for 3-yr term).

Case Study 2: The Gambia
President is directly elected for a 5-year term with no limitation as to the
number of terms
The Cabinet is appointed by the President
National Assembly (with a 5-year term) comprises of 53 members elected
by First-Past the Post system
5 etcetera members appointed by the President
Has 7 regions and 2 municipalities –local government is divided into
districts and councils.

Legal Basis
Chapter XV section 192 states “Local Government Administration in the
Gambia shall be based on a system of democratically elected councils with
a high degree of autonomy”
Local Government Act 2002 and Local Government Finance and Audit
2004 are the main legislations for local governance.
Has 3 tiers of local government-Village Development Committees, Wards
and Councils.
There are 1,500 VDCs, 114 wards and 8 councils.

Case Study 3: Sierra Leone
President who is both Head of state and Government is elected for a 5-year for 2
terms
President appoints the Cabinet with the approval of the Parliament
Parliamentarians are prohibited by the constitution to concurrently hold office in
the cabinet
The unicameral parliament –the House of Representatives has 124 members
elected for 5-year term
Legal Basis
The constitution is silent on local governance

Centralization vs Decentralization
The case for De-centralization:
De-centralization has strengths in the following areas:
Local needs
Planning and the poor
Territorial and spatial redistribution
Access
Resistance to change (if such a change is not in the interest of the majority)
Decongestion
Participation
Resource mobilization
Coordination

The case against De-centralization
o Separatism
o Resource re-distribution
o Inequality-rich communities can retain their wealth for personal use by keeping public
expenditure and taxation at a low level.
o Macro-economic planning –is difficult
o Cost
o Patronage and privilege

De-concentration: also referred to as administrative
decentralization describes the transfer of specific functions from
central government to the peripheral bodies of the same central
government institutions without transferring the faculty of inter
institutional or inter-sector coordination or integration processes (There
has to be some degree of coordination).
In this type of decentralization, the peripheral bodies remain dependent
on the central government.

Advantages of Administrative decentralization
Local people can decide on their own needs; they are more able to
deal with those needs rather than decisions made for them by a
removed central body.
Enables the poor to participate in their governance and to speak for
themselves
NB: these 2 advantages are only possible when decentralization
programmes are participatory and democratic.

De-centralization as a tool for democratization itself does not require
that you have to always decentralize to democratic bodies. An agency
could decentralize to the military (internal security matters), private
sector or NGOs i.e. NAS, a chief i.e. district tribunals, or an unelected
officer etc.
De-concentration without democratization is possible. Under
democratization, access is granted to the citizens; thus making
governance easier.

De-concentration is a system of field administration where by functions are
transferred from the central point to field staff to enable them make routine decisions
and implement central directives at local levels. Here the field staff is still employees
of the centre and still under their direction and control.
De-concentration offices can be located at the national, regional, district and sub-
district levels but under the supervision of the centre. De-concentration can curtail the
centre’s highly bureaucratic system and reduce its congestion and lack of space.
Thus another term for de-concentration is de-congestion. De-centralization should not
be based on difficult relationship or lack of need for old or outdated resources.

Unit 3: Why/Justification for Decentralization
 Establish a mirror image of central government at local government levels
 Fair share of the national cake and development programmes
 Providing peripheral people access to services
 Turn round rural- urban drift to urban- rural drift with a view to reducing
crime and population pressure on urban centres
 Burst local economies through good road networks that would support
intra-locality trade
 Reduce bureaucracy to fast track paper work; i.e. can people get passports
in Kerewan-NBR?

Unit 3: Why/Justification for Decentralization contd
 Giving local people the opportunity to decide on their development
needs instead of being dictated to them by those far removed from
their locality
 Giving local people a political voice (can they decide on who should
hold political office on their behalf)
 Bring decision making processes closer to the point of
impact/incidence/action ie, the people affected by such decisions
(the further the point of decision making is from the people, the less
relevant and responsive such decisions would be to their needs)

Unit 3: Why/Justification for Decentralization contd
 Bring development programmes, supervision, monitoring and
evaluation closer to programme implementation sites (How much
time and resources are needed to transport the
supervisors/monitors/evaluators from the national headquarters to
programme implementation sites? What would be the frequencies of
their visits to those sites?).

Unit 4: Territorial organization of the Sate
Administrative Decentralization in the Anglophone
For De-centralization to be effective, the country’s territories should be
re-demarcated into more manageable geographical units such as:
Region/County/Division/State
Municipalities
Districts
Wards.

Unit 4: Territorial organization of the Sate contd
Regions/County/Division/State
The biggest unit of an organ of a country is the region also known as
county or division or state. Some of these units are so big that for
governance, democratization and service delivery to be efficient and
effective, they have to be sub-divided.
The administrative of the region is the CEO of the Local Government
Area (LGA), the sub-divisions of the region are the districts.

The Districts/Municipality
The districts/Municipalities are the biggest sub-divisions of the region
and are headed by District Chiefs or CEO of the mayoralties in the case
of the Gambia, but in some other countries they are headed Heads
District Assemblies depending on what obtains in those countries.
The sub-divisions of the district/mayoralty are the town/village
(settlement) headed by an Alkalo in the case of the but, some other
countries they are headed by a mayor/ mayoress.

 Municipalities/Towns are headed by Mayors/Mayoress elected by
the people;
 Villages are headed by Village heads most through hereditary
lineage.
 The process of re-demarcation therefore, involves compromises
between conflicting policies, parties (land disputes) and principles. The
area should be small enough for effective participation, control and
accountability but large enough to be economically viable.

The following criteria are taken into consideration during demarcation exercises:
 Settlement patterns-the spatial (argument, row) distribution of settlements and socio-
economic activities.
 Efficiency-areas are demarcated according to assumptions about the scale of
operations necessary for optimum performance. There is a systematic relationship
between the quality of administrative performance and characteristics of local areas
which can be varied by altering geographical boundaries.
 Managerial—demarcation is done according to the management structure of the de-
centralized organization. Central decision-makers demarcate the areas reflecting on
how best to manage the flow of work. Decision makers do this to satisfy their needs
and values rather than by the identification of naturally or traditionally coherent
communities.

 Natural properties
Areas defining territorial jurisdiction of departmental offices for
operational purposes; for instance, police or internal revenue
services
Special purpose territories such as Serekunda East and Serekunda
West; These 2 territories use to be one.
Special development regions for reasons of ethnic composition (not
visible in the Gambia) or availability of natural resources and levels
of economic developments.

 Local authority demarcation must take cognizance of geographical,
economic and political issues.
 Political de-centralization consists of at least one or all of the
following:
 Re-demarcation of local boundaries-considering the areas’ resources
so that some localities are not too poor to sustain themselves.
 Categorization of the areas ie. Districts, wards etc.
 Establishment of the political authorities and their sub-structures

Challenges in Administrative Decentralization-(De-congestion/De-
concentration, Delegation, Devolution, Privatization):
Threat of separation
People are enclosed within their ethnic territories
Inequity in resource distribution
Difficult to do macro-economic planning
Is costly-bureaucratic systems have to be established
Lack of political will/commitment on the part of national leaders
Lack of proper structures at local government levels

Unit 4: Territorial organization of the State contd
Human lust for power/authority/resources (patronage and privilege are not easy to relinquish)
Fear of change (change advocators most of the time expect it from others and not from
themselves).
Ministerial/agential resistance
Variance in local economies (some localities have more resources than others)
Few or lack of well-equipped personnel to implement decentralization processes
Re-demarcation of local boundaries
Mass sensitization on decentralization
Ability of staff to coordinate the activities at the local level
Negative attitudes towards de-centralization programmes (field officials, local leaders,
community)
Organizational difficulties
Inadequate financial resources and skilled personnel

Coordination
Coordination is a very crucial aspect in administrative de-centralization. For
effective coordination of field service to happen, there is the need for a
powerful official with enough authority over other departments in that
region/municipality eg the regional governors.
Coordination, mobilization, participation and effectiveness should be
maximized through a system of multi-functional governments to ensure that
the range of functional services are brought under one entity.

Functions
Functions de-centralized to institutions at the local level are various. They can
be classified as:
Public services: ie public transportation, housing, water supply, fire service,
waste collection etc
Social services: eg primary education, health clinics, social welfare etc
Production and productivity activities: delivery of agricultural inputs,
animal husbandry, extension work, forestry etc

Protective:-law and other, prisons, consumer protection and local
justice system. A good example is that of Uganda’s local councils at
village, parish, county and district levels which fight corruption, mal-
administration and even screen for recruitment for the police.
Infrastructure projects: bridges, roads, electrification, community
facilities ie halls, sport grounds etc.

Unit 5: Fiscal Decentralization
Fiscal de-centralization is the means through which LGAs translate
power, competence and resources into developmental output. That is
the resources needed by the LGAs to carry out decentralized functions.
LGAs need enough resources and some financial autonomy to be able
to live up to expectations. (Finance should follow functions).

Unit 5: Fiscal Decentralization contd
Reasons for Fiscal Decentralization
LGAs may lose enthusiasm if not given some command over certain
resources (Conforti et al, 1998)
Decentralization framework should link local financing and fiscal
authority to service provision responsibilities and functions of local
government so that local politicians can bear the cost of their decisions
and deliver on their promises (Litvack et al,1998).

Arguments against Fiscal Decentralization
 In developing countries, basic needs are solved but inter-local
governmental tastes and preferences are not revealed.
 In many developing countries where land and labour markets are not
well functioning and democracy in its infant stage, the assumption that
people can move freely within and between LGAs or have their
political voices heard is a farce.

Disparities between available resources and promised expenditure
 Low level trust between LGAs and their political superiors: LGA officials
will prefer following their own interest rather than those of the tricky and
untrustworthy self-centred politicians.
Grants
 Central government Grants are given to LGAs (LGF) to close gaps
between their revenues and expenditures (budget deficits) especially those
LGAs with low economic potential. Can CRR North sustain itself
economically?

Central government Grants are in 3 categories:
Tied grants are programme or project specific (conditional); such grants
can only be used in the specified programmes or projects that accompany
them.
Untied grants are used at the discretion of the LGAs (unconditional); these
grants can be used in development grey areas i.e. priority areas.
Matching grants are supplementary to LGA finances.

The size and type of grant to be disbursed is determined by:
 The economic strength or weakness of the LGA concerned (Kombo North and
LRR are unlikely to attract the same type and size of grants all the time)
 Clean or unclean sheet performance of the particular LGA (an LGA which is in
constant disrepute with the governed or central government may not be well
trusted with central government’s financial interventions). In the same vein, local
fund raising efforts may not yield multiple digits.
 The influential and or charismatic nature of its local politicians (authorities are
more receptive to these category of people and many of the times would want to
associate with them rather than the un-popular and rarely seen ones

Unit 6: Participation of Civil Society & Non-State Actors
Participation means involvement (part taking in decision making) and influence over
local governance by citizens. It is said to be both a means and an end.
Forms of Participation
Consultation:
Consultation has different forms and is said to be the weakest form of participation.
Elected representatives are consulted before plans and decisions are finalized
Appointed national political leaders who participated in the planning and other
bureaucrats are the ones consulted
The public can commend on local plans but may not influence any changes

Unit 6: Participation of Civil Society & Non-State Actors contd
Problems with Consultations
Involves only the right to advise not to decide
Decision makers can only listen to advice but not obliged to follow it
(such participation is best described as information gathering process
rather than control decisions that affect their lives).
Localities may rely significantly on their non-residential citizens for
thoughts
Long serving residential non- citizens’ ideas are most of the time not
welcome (because they are not citizens of the localities) despite their
experience, knowledge of the area and the issues.

Process of Consultation
o Institutionalized—planners organize meetings during which they
present their proposals for discussions
o Unstructured—people are invited to inspect the plans and make
individual comments etc etc. (planners may or may not factor in
such comments)

Access
Public service benefits intended for the local people should be made
accessible to them; registration of births and deaths for example should not
require local people to travel kilometers to access that service.
What would be the cost on a farmer to travel from Kanapeh to Banjul to get a
birth certificate leaving his farm and family for days?
How much would he/she give to the wife of his/host to buy soap at the end of
his/her stay? Putting all these together, the birth certificate may cost him/her
twice the actual price.

Inputs
The wrong concept of participation may be exploitive to local people.
Contribution of labour, resources and cash by local people (usually referred to
as participation) will have the tendency of shifting LGAs’ responsibilities to
those too poor to shoulder them.
Participation can only be seen to be happening when local people can
participate in planning and decision making on projects and their locations. In
a nut shell, participation and contribution are two different things.

Representation on Managing Bodies
 Community representation is real when their members are part of the community management
bodies. Their functions include management of re-creation centres, Day care centres, schools,
employment schemes etc. These bodies do not have ownership rights over the institutions they
manage but management rights.
Action Groups
 These are voluntary organizations, self-help projects etc; their mission is to articulate political
demands and needs of the people development programmes are intended for. Other roles they play
for the society:
 Management of services
 Organization of productive activities
 Exercise influence on planners and decision makers responsible for allocating resources.

Representative Government
This is the creation of formal structures of representative government at different levels in
the spatial hierarchy. Election into these bodies could be partisan or non-partisan. The
levels have to be assigned functions and provided with resources and closely monitored
and supervised.
Participation and Development
It is important to ask the following questions about the mode of participation:
 Does it produce balance development?
 Does it result in more realistic and relevant planning of projects?
 Does it require more mobilization of resources?
 Does it actually encourage the participation of the people?

Balance Development: has the development attained through participation made
poor areas more prosperous?
 Inequalities will result when:
participation favours communities that can produce better plans
communities are given equal treatment in terms of quantified development
projects; eg one market for Kombo Central and one market for Kombo East.
Which areas has greater needs for more markets? Etc etc.
 Participation can give political voice to the politically voiceless but could also
enable the rich, the powerful and local elites to hijack local institutions, organizations
or development projects to their own areas for the furtherance of their privileges.

Identification of Community Development Projects (CDPs)
When identifying community development projects, a matrix can be a
useful tool because it serves as a guide to identifying development
needs, fund raising activities project implementation among other
things.

 Sample LGA Matrix on word doc. Page 14

Quality of Projects
 The assumed advantages of participation are:
 Yields improved project designs
 Felt needs more likely to be served
 Beneficiaries are better able to design projects that respond to their needs
rather than those design distances away from the intended beneficiaries
 Projects with community participation are more easily sustained
 Community participation in designing and implementation enhances
project maintenance and cost recovery rates.

According to the World Bank, practical field experience has revealed the
following:
Community participation meant that the new services or activities were
introduced or existing ones modified in line with beneficiary preferences
Communities were motivated to use project services, mobilizing demand
Savings were made in time and money as a result of smooth
implementation of tasks that are normally prone to conflicts and delays
There was sounder operational maintenance and better day-to-day
management.

Participation like any other endeavour is not without cost. Some of the
costs associated with participation are enumerated below:
Delays in starting a project
Staff increases
Pressure to add to the scope of the project-project expansion
Project hijacking by un-intended individuals or organizations-this
could lead to political conflicts.

Mobilization and Empowerment
Mobilization
Mobilize additional needed resources for development or produce more
output with the same project output
Uses un or under utilizelabour and skills
Can be a catalyst for further development for nearby communities when
success stories move around. According to Prof. Ahwoi (Feb. 2010),
“mobilization is a possible consequence of participation rather than a
form of participation).

Forms of participation according to him include:
Cash grants to organizations that are not very participative
Solicitation of labour and finance from local people for self-help projects
Volunteers collecting local contributions for development schemes.
Empowerment
The objective participation is to empower people both politically and administratively.
Politically
o dealing with authorities raise people’s awareness of their strengths
o dealing with an agency enable the people to deal with others within the spirit of net-working
o participation produces leadership.

Administratively
People are better project managers and decision makers because of lessons
learned during their participation in previous projects.
Beneficiaries’ skills and knowledge are enhanced thus improving their
negotiation skills for further development.
NB: It is important to note that an empowered community could pose
political risks to external political leaders who are reluctant or unwilling to
succumb to pressures or demands of a well-organized community.

Participatory Governance and De-centralized Planning
In developing countries, community participation has always been a challenge. Ideally local people
should be given adequate decision-making powers surrounding trivial issues in public policy. The
built-in functions become determinants of the local participation.
But if these powers and functions are given to the local institutions rather than the local people, then
the purpose of participation is defeated. It is empirically observed that even if these powers and
functions are given to local people but it is the bureaucrats and technocrats form headquarters or
ministries posted to those LGAs that exercise those powers and functions.
In this case, it is the national priorities that these people would be keener to implement rather than
the unique development needs of the LGAs. The reason being the national priorities are blind to
LGA differences or uniqueness.

Unit 7: Women, Decentralization & Local Government
In 1976, there was a UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
The convention committed the world to promote women’s equal participation
in public decision making including political office.
The Beijing Plat Form of Action in 1995 reinforced this advocacy. In 2000,
MDG Goal Number 3 committed the UN member states to promote gender
equality and women empowerment.
Gender equity and gender sensitivity have been regarded as pre-requisite for
sustainable development.

Unit 7: Women, Decentralization & Local Government contd
Obstacles to Participation
Financial constraints involve in politicking
Socio-cultural perception about women’s role in politics (a woman’s head is too light for such roles).
In the Akan language, it is said: “A woman’s role is to sell garden eggs, not gun powder”
“If a woman is to fire a gun, the gun must lean against a man’s chest.”
 Religious hindrance
Intimidation-politics is a dirty game -so is not for decent women
Time and mobility constraints
Marital and family responsibilities
Lack of self-confidence
Low level literacy

 “A woman’s role is to sell garden eggs, not gun powder”
 “If a woman is to fire a gun, the gun must lean against a man’s chest”
 Women who participate in politics always face the following question:
Can she identify with and pursue action to effectively meet the needs of her constituency;
write good proposals to raise funds etc?
Can she identify small things that make a difference for long term benefits for her people?
How accessible will she be considering being a good family person-‘a fit mother or a faithful
and reliable wife?-(the case of Maimuna Khan of Senegal)
How marketable is she ie, is she attractive, media friendly, an achiever, can she demonstrate her
strengths and diminish her weaknesses?

State Models and Decentralization
Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s decentralization is a prominent case of what has come to be called ethnic
federalism. The country has a diverse population, the second largest in Africa (currently
estimated at 86 million). There were two main phases to its decentralization:
1. At the end of the civil war in 1991, the country was divided into autonomous regional
states, the boundaries were based substantially on ethnic criteria.
2. The second phase commenced about a decade later during which authorities and
resources were decentralised from the regional level to the woreda level (district
level). After two decades into this decentralization, Ethiopia became a highly
decentralised country. (Smoke P (2014).

Unit 8: Political Regimes, Democracy & Decentralization
 The more democratic the political regime, the freer the citizens to part-
take in national development.
 Lexis de Tocqueville’s study of the American democracy in the 1830s is
the first and one of the most influential arguments for the benefit of
decentralised government and the key importance of voluntary organisations.
 While voyaging across the United States, de Tocqueville was amazed by
the high degree of local government autonomy without the interference of
central government.
 He argued that this was made possible by the many voluntary
organisations that held the society together and could carry out functions
normally performed by the state bureaucracy (Alexis Kyander).

Unit 8:Political Regimes, Democracy & Decentralization contd
While democratic decentralisation is regarded as an important tool for
development in sub-Saharan Africa, its practicability is repeatedly
questioned.
Lack of resources, expertise, marginalised populations and the
inexperience of local electors are all barricades to successful
decentralisation.
However, often overlooked are the various ways in which local people
use the opportunities provided by democratic decentralisation to
engage local authorities and demand accountability.

Unit 8: Political Regimes, Democracy & Decentralization contd
 As the discourse on economic development has extended its focus to
a broader set of interrelated economic, social, and political variables,
an important conclusion has been that sustainable and inclusive
development requires not only economic and social policies, but
also political empowerment to foster a deliberative and participatory
development process. (lup.lub.lu.se/student-
papers/record/4586786/file/4612659.pdf · PDF file).

 While reviewing the various arguments about the influence of
democracy on socio‐economic development in the developing
world, the crucial point as issue is what particular form of
democracy can support or hinder socio‐economic development.
 The latter is defined in terms of infrastructural, regulative and
distributive capacities. (Building a democratic developmental state:
Social democracy in the developing world- Gordon White-Pages 1-
32 | Published online: 26 Sep 2007.

Decentralization and Political Participation
The main argument for decentralization is to make government more
accessible by bringing it closer to the citizens (as earlier mentioned) by
bridging the gap between politicians and citizens, the political process
becomes more open, participatory and transparent.
Decentralization has the potential to open up new ways of exercising
political influence and can create an incentive for popular political
engagement (Hadenius 2003b: 1).

The Role and Potential of Local Governments
 Control and provision of Markets and motor packs: This is one of
the most important functions of the Local government. ...
 Collection and disposition of refuse: As it is always said,
“Cleanliness is next to Godliness”. ...
 Making recommendations: Local government is also given the
obligation of making recommendation to state/federal government
on issues and problems of rural communities that cannot be solved
by the local people

Political Regimes, Democracy & Decentralization contd
Provision and control of cemeteries and slaughter houses: In cases
where the local government does not exist, it is usually difficult to
control the way people use cemeteries.
However, with local government, rules are given on how the local
people use cemeteries and slaughter houses.
This brings about development in the nation and makes the local
government organized (See Gambia Local Government Act 2002).

De-centralization Planning
This refers to the preparation of the local levels for the functions to be de-centralized.
Types of De-centralized Planning systems
 De-centralized planning consists of many functions. It should be multi-sector
approach including all government functions and other local institutions.
 The following countries are good examples:
Kenya: District Development Committees main functions are to approve projects
proposals, setting up local development priorities and monitoring progress of all types
of development activities.

Tanzania: District Councils play security roles; improve agriculture, health trade, education, social,
cultural and recreational life for the people.
Zimbabwe: Village Development Committees are given the responsibility to construct maintenance
and manage community centres, adult literacy centres etc.
Privatization/Public-Private Partnership
 De-centralization as public-private partnership or privatization refers to the extent of which de-
centralized and local institutions providing goods and services are in public or private sector. It is
about the transferring of state planning to market forces. Leaving goods and services to be supplied
under free market conditions helps market forces to regulate prices.
 Privatization is about complete transfer of a package of government service to private profit
making or non-making organizations.

Deregulation: this means the removal of statutory (legal) regulations from
private firms or transferring responsibility for regulation of private bodies to
parallel organizations or professional groups such as trade associations.
Within the context of government literature, privatization happens when local
authorities contract services or part of services it is required to provide to a
private producer or supplier for an agreed fee over a certain period.
This kind of arrangement serves as a relief to government. An example of this
could be rubbish collection, security firms etc.

Delegation: is the assigning of certain responsibilities or functions to
semi-autonomous or Para-statal organizations.
The assigned organizations do not carry out the assigned functions
independent of the assigner.
When power or function is delegated, the implication is that the person
actually vested with the authority to carry out the function has sub-
delegated it to another to do on his/her behalf.
For example the Gambia Government giving food aid to the Gambia
Red Cross Society to distribute to refugees from Cassamance.

Devolution: this is the truest form of de-centralization. It refers to the transfer of specific
functions to the subsidiaries along with the legal basis, capacity for the generation of
resources including human and discretionary decision powers.
De-centralized agencies under Devolution rely on a lesser degree on central government
to do their functions unless such reliance is on a legal basis for Devolution.
These bodies are geographically large i.e. regions or provinces with constitutionally
delineated functions.
These bodies (Regional Governors) represent spheres rather than levels of government.
Under Devolution, devolved power of functions are difficult to change or withdraw
because that would require constitutional amend.

Unit 9: Accountability, Citizens and Local Governments
Accountability Mechanisms: Case Studies: Italy
Social Reporting System (SR)
Characteristics and peculiarities of social reporting in public sector Accountability
and social responsibility are realized through the social reporting tools.
In Italy, reporting undertakes various documentary forms such as: Social Reporting
(SR), Environmental Report (ER), Participatory Budgeting (PB) and Territorial
Budgeting (TB). The purposes of SR are dissimilar depending on the type of
institution which is using it.
Private businesses for example, need to legitimize themselves to public opinion by
trying to show how they are socially responsible and careful to produce, not only
shareholder value, but also social value for the community (corporate responsibility).

Unit 9: Accountability, Citizens and Local Governments contd
 SR appears as part of accountability concept, exposing information
which is not recognized on accounts, but that are very important for
the assessment of activities and results achieved. An essential
element of SR is the attention to all categories of stakeholders that
can affect the ability to achieve goals with their active and reactive
behavior. In this framework, local governments have an information
and accounting system very complex and difficult to understand by
citizens. For these reasons, SR allows citizens to better control local
government’s work.

Similarly, it permits local administrators to have a document in order to
inform administered community more clearly and obtain, in this way,
its legitimacy and agreement.
Overall, SR can subsidize to improve local government political
responsibility since it increases transparency and visibility of policy
choices and opens up to better evaluations of government capacity

 In recent years, these and other factors are leading to the gradual
emergence of accountability concept in local government.
 The first experiences of accountability in Italian public sector date
back to the nineties, but it is only in the twenty-first century that
social reporting and, in particular, SR become one of the main topics
of interest and experimentation in local governments
(Accountability and Social Report in Local Governments.
 A Case Study Vincenzo Marinello, Mariano Cavatai , Deborah
Gervasi3, Guglielmo L.M. Dinicolò4- IOSR Journal of Business and
Management (IOSR-JBM).

Unit 10: Monitoring & Evaluation & Adjusting
Mandate of Regional Governors Offices
Now moving into the specificities on the role of Regional Governors in
relation to Monitoring & Evaluation and Decentralization, the local
government act of 2002 provides that the Governor shall represent the
President and the government accordingly and can exercise executive
powers in the area (Local government Act, 2002:36). Furthermore, the
act provides that the Governor can advise the Minister of Local
Government on issues that affect the area and as well policies and
programmes.
The local government act of 2002 also provides that Governors shall be
responsible for the inspection and monitoring of activities of local
government authorities can and carry out functions assigned by the

Unit 10: Monitoring & Evaluation & Adjusting contd
 Concerning the financial autonomy of Regional Governors Offices, the local government act of 2002 provides
that every council has autonomy over its financial matters. (Local Gov. in The Gambia: Case Study).
 The Governor can perform its monitoring and evaluation duties through the Regional Coordination
Committee (RCC) which has representatives from all government branches, CSOs, CBO, NGOs etc.
Administrative structure of the area councils
 The executive of the council is headed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is responsible for
management of the affairs of the council and is the accounting officer. The CEO is answerable to the council and
reports to the Chairperson.
 The departments of the council include Finance, Services, Planning and Development each headed by a
director.

Legal Framework
Central Control of Local Governments
Justification of Central Control
Since a local government area is part of the central government not an
independent state, it has to be monitored and supervise by it.
The rational for central government control are as follows:
Helps local authorities to execute their duties effectively in
accordance with the law
Services such as registration of births and deaths, markets, education
and sanitation should be at minimum standard
Central government wants to ensure that de-centralized authority
and power are used appropriately

Central government wants to ensure effectiveness and efficiency of local
governments’ micro-economic performance
Local governments sometimes interfere with individuals when raising
funds, acquiring land, making bye-laws etc and the rights of those
individuals need to be protected.
Forms of Central Control
(a)Legislative: parliament enacts laws and amends existing ones for the
control of local governments
(b)Executive: the creation of local government units ie, regions, councils,
districts wards etc are executive decisions
(c)Administrative: the Ministry of Local Government is responsible for local
government affairs at central level.

Judicial Review Control of Local Authorities’Actions
Judicial review of local authorities is exercised by the courts. Judicial intervention is called upon
when a civil action is instituted by a citizen.
The action is a complain that a local authority has no judicial power to do what it had done (ultra
vires -in excess of statutory authority) or when its action had breached the rules of natural justice.
Illegal and Irrational use of Power
Action taken beyond the authority of a local government is illegal and will be quashed off by the
courts. If the action was taken under an unauthorized delegation, it will be also quashed off by the
courts.
The principle covering delegation is “delegatus non potest delegare” (meaning unless the delegating
status permits it, a delegated power cannot be delegated).

Ultra Vires: use of excess power or authority or an act in breach of
natural justice. Acts done in excess of power or authority (ultra vires)
are invalid.
 Natural Justice is covered by 2 principles called Rules of Natural
Justice:
 “Nemojudex in causasua” (no one shall be a judge in his/her own
cause) also referred to as the Rule against bias. LGAs’ decisions
should not be bias and should not appear to be bias.

“Audi alteram partem” (listen to the other party) also referred to as the Right to fair
hearing. LGAs where required should listen to both parties when making decisions
especially when the decision is likely to affect some person.
The principles are that the affected person must be notified and given the opportunity to
be heard. A person injured by the breach of natural justice can bring a civil action against
the LGA to challenge its action or proposed action.
If the court finds in favour of the initiator of the civil action, it may order an appropriate
remedy.
Remedies to Breach of Natural Justice: Prerogative Writs
Certiorari: this could be granted by the high court to quash off a decision of an area
council, district authority, any of its department officials etc where the decision is seen to
be ultra vires, in breach of natural justice or an error of law (misinterpretation of the law).

Prohibition: this is used to stop or prohibit a local authority or any of its
officials from acting ultra vires, that is breaching natural justice or making an
error of law.
Mandamus: where a local authority refused or failed to perform assigned
statutory duties, a person directly (not state affected) affected by that refusal
or failure can apply to the high court to compel the local authority to perform
that duty.
Quo Warranto: a warrant from the court questioning the source of authority
for certain official actions

Habeas Corpus: this is obtainable from the high court to ascertain the validity or
otherwise of the detention of a person.
With the conviction that the detention is unlawful, the high court may release an order
requiring the person under whose name or authority the person is detained to produce
the body of the detained person before the high court.
The detainer should also produce a written report explaining why the person was
detained. If the report fails to convince the high court, it can make an order for the
detained person to be released.
Injunction: is issued by the high court to restrain local authorities and other public
authorities and private persons from carrying out or continue to carry out an un-
lawful act (nuisance).

Declaration: declaratory judgments are judgments about
legal relationships between parties; it does not contain
sanctions or procedures for enforcement.
Judicial Control
The imperative of local government judicial control cannot be
oversized. LGAs are supposed to be impartial, neutral, un-bias, and un-
corrupt and seen to be securing public confidence. Judicial control is
important in ensuring these.

Despite the good will behind judicial control, it is always faced with some challenges
as enumerated below:
 Triggered off only if an individual initiates an action
 Litigation is expensive and time consuming (making the poor unable to initiate it)
 Action could be initiated by only educated persons (those who know the law)
 Fear of uncertain legal outcome
 Lack of trust in the judicial system ie camaraderie
As the result of the above challenges, the world over, people are now resorting to
quasi-judicial plus other less expensive and more trustworthy control methods.

Quasi-judicial Review of Local Authorities’Action
The quasi-judicial review is an alternative to judicial control of actions and
omissions of LGAs in the form of a system of administrative tribunal.
In other words the quasi-judicial system is meant to capture omissions,
mistakes and misinterpretations to perfect the weaknesses in the existing
LGAs tribunals.
This was initiated in France called Administrative Courts
(DroitsAdministratif) with its parallel structures graduating into a
Conseild’etat (State Council).

Administrative Justice
Administrative Justice also has its buts as outlined below:
 Citizens’ lack of knowledge of their constitutional rights; (how can they know the
remedies when they do not know their rights)?
 Cost of litigation is high-not pursuable by the poor and legal aids are ineffective
 Exhausting the administrative remedies before court action is an impediment.
Administrative action or inaction is always a hindrance.
 The “sovereign immunity” syndrome is often used to suppress court actions
against officials of the district as officials of state.
 Judicial review is weak in dealing with bureaucratic intensity
 Prolonged trials can also discourage potential pursuers to start a legal fight.

The awareness of such deficiencies compelled Ghana’s constitution to
establish the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice
(CHRAJ) as a quasi-judicial system. The Gambian of it is the Alternative
Dispute Resolution (ADR). Its functions include:
 Sensitize people on their constitutional rights (Civic Education in the
Gambia)
 Investigate violation of those rights
 Assist individuals in prosecuting those violations
 Inco-operate the functions of an Ombudsman.

Conclusion
Women form the second half of humanity if not more than half;
rejecting their participation or ignoring their potentials therefore means
reducing humanity’s productivity by half.
Not all men are high performers and not all women are high
performers; what is required is building their capacities and provide
them the opportunity to perform.

Summary of de-centralization processes
 Constitutional enactment for the re-demarcation (if need be), functions, powers and
authorities of the LGAs
 Re-demarcation
 Establishment of structures and facilities for the de-centralized functions-this is
followed by the transfer of:
 Personnel
 Functions
 Authority
 Resources
 Finances and
 Legal control of LGAs by the centre.

 ‘’Governance is about people and how they are organized to prepare
themselves for action that will have a positive effect on their lives’’.
 ‘’Good governance is among other things participatory, transparent and
accountable’’.
Constitutional Provisions
 ‘’The sovereignty of the Gambia resides in the people of the Gambia from
whom all organs of government derive their authority and in, whose name
and for whose welfare and prosperity the powers of government are to be
exercised in accordance with this constitution’’.

 The people shall express their will as to who shall govern them and how they shall
be governed, through regular, free and fair elections of their representative’’.
 ‘’All men are equally born free and independent: therefore, all government, or
right, originates from the people’’.
 ‘’To encourage participatory government and a balance development, government
shall pursue intensive political and institutional decentralization process’’
 ‘’The only grantor of democracy is people making their own political, cultural,
social and developmental decisions at their own level.
 The only safeguard of sustainable development is when people participate in
setting their own priorities, planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating
themselves within the overall national interest’’

ASSESSMENT AREAS SEMESTER I, 2021/22
Unit 1: Principles of Decentralization;
Models of Governance (Case Study, Gambia). Legal
basis excluded;
Unit 4: Legal Framework;
Judicial Review of Control of LG Actions

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