It is nonetheless enshrined in the union constitution as well as in the constitutions of the mainland and zanzibar. Fiscal decentralisation the devolution of taxing and spending powers to lower. Decentralization and local governance in developing. An important component of the reform is to increase the fiscal autonomy of local authorities. Decentralization, local governance, and sustainable development are still exploratory, despite an increased importance in facilitating development of. Anatomy of pay in decentralisation by devolution in tanzania. Government of peru 2011 according to the cambodian government, decentralization is being pursued there above all to strengthen and expand democracy by driving it down to the local level. Local governments in tanzania were established in 1926 by the colonial british. The last two decades have witnessed the spread of decentralization and local government reforms in the entire eastern and southern africa region. Electoral decentralization refers to the method by which subnational officials are selected. Now the people have the opportunity to exercise their rights. Review of the decentralization process and its impact on.
The strength of decentralized local governance remains limited. The concept of decentralization in tanzania is not a new one. The strategy is informed by a situational assessment with a focus on children, a government needs assessment and an analysis of unicef s comparative advantage. Decentralization system of governance in rwanda fortune of. Charged with operationalizing the local government reform, and now concentrating on implementing decentralization by devolution dbyd policy is the local government reform programme.
Decentralisation can be viewed as an extension of delegation. We employ a diagnostic framework to analyze its local government discretion and accountability in political, administrative and fiscal domains. Decentralization system of governance in rwanda fortune. In chapter 4, i will discuss whether the local government laws in tanzania give functional powers to the local governments to exercise their functions without interference from the central government. The constitution of the united republic of tanzania accords each local government authority in tanzania mainland the. The transfer of managerial responsibility for specified functions to other public organizations outside normal central government control, whether provincial or local government or parastatal agencies ferguson and chandrasekharan. When a part of the work is entrusted to others, it is known as delegation. Whether the local government laws in tanzania give the powers and. Since the early 2000s, decentralization has been espoused as a major policy goal of successive zambian governments. In mainland tanzania, the constitution of the united republic 1977, articles 145 and 146 states that the national assembly or the house of representatives must provide for local government. This article explored the perception of council on exercise of their fiscal authority in selected local authorities in tanzania. Under resources, the local government authorities were given powers, among other things, to collect taxes from different sources mponguliana, 2007.
This article uses a study of the local government reform program lgrp in tanzania to. Decentralization by devolution is the strategy which has gained much popularity in the political and administrative arena in tanzania. Poverty distribution in some developing countries country year national urban rural kenya 1992 42 29 46 ghana 1992 31 27 34 tanzania 1993 42 20 51 south africa 1993 44 40 86 source. In tanzania, the local government is the largest employer. Reform, it is hoped, will strengthen democratic representation, increase popular participation.
Tanzania seems to have a deconcentrated local government system with central appointees having large powers at the local level. It is estimated that about 100 years ago the first local authorities were established in tanzania. In this article we employ a diagnostic framework to draw these dimensions together in a coherent manner to focus on analyzing local government discretion and accountability in tanzania. Tanzanias local government reform programme lgrp began in 1998 with the aim of transferring resources from central to local government, and devolving and decentralising power to create more autonomous local government authorities lgas.
This strategy aims at devolving powers and authority from the central government to the local government to. Ddecentralization and ecentralization and llocal governance. The objective of this research was to explore the impact of decentralization of central government functions to local authorities in tanzania. For it to be effective, not only should local governance be downwardly accountable, but other central government agencies and bodies at district level should also be accountable to local government. Decentralization is highly linked with local government system and has been practised in the country in varying degrees since colonial times. Currently, reform of local government involves the following five main areas. One such instance is the local elections, which took place in 1997 and. A sampling of definitions page 3 joint undpgovernment of germany evaluation working paper of the undp role in decentralization and local governance october 1999 national, and local. The main drive of the policy is to ensure equitable political, economic, and social development throughout the country, and to be a cornerstone of the fight against poverty by increasing peoples participation in the planning and management of the development. Thus, the study is envisaged to explore the documented challenges that constrain decentralization for human resource development in local government authorities in tanzania. Meaning, advantages and disadvantages of decentralisation. Decentralisation by devolution in tanzania academic journals. Introduction sdc has been implementing projects in support to decentralisation and local governance for about 15 years.
Reflections on community involvement in the planning process in kizota ward in dodoma article pdf available january 2009 with 12,429 reads. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do. Abstract tanzania is currently implementing a local government reform aimed at improving public service delivery. Decentralization has been a key policy of the government of rwanda since 2000 when the national decentralization policy was adopted. The societal actors include government, the private sector and civil society. Many governments have promoted decentralization, but opinion is divided on whether real devolution of authority from the centre to the local level has occurred. Decentralization by devolution longdom publishing sl. Decentralization and local governance in developing countries. Unicef tanzania decentralization and local governance support strategy. Between decentralization, local and central government, there is a complex relationship, because on the one hand decentralization improves the operations of local. An overview of decentralization and local governance in. Concept paper on decentralisation and local governance 2 1. Finally, central government provision could also lead to greater corruption and misuse of funds, as the service recipients in a local district cannot monitor the bureaucrat or politician in the.
Introduction the existence of local government has always been defended on the basis that it is a crucial aspect of the process of democratization and intensification of mass participation in the decisionmaking process. The united republic of tanzania the local government finances act, 1982 this edition of the local government finances act, 1982 incorporates all the amendments made to it since its enactments in 1982 up to 30th june, 2000 and is printed under the authority of section 18 of the interpretation of laws and general clauses act, 1972. Decentralization is considered an important element of participatory democracy and, along with privatization and deregulation, represents a substantial reduction in the authority of national governments over economic policy. It specifically focuses on the decentralization within central and local governments role in. The term attracted attention in the 1950s and 1960s when british and french colonial. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies. When local governments lack capacity, an appropriate balance needs to be found between central oversight and local autonomy.
Different levels of government administer resources and matters that have been delegated to them, generally through a constitution. The study involved a sample population of 50 people and data were collected from primary and secondary source of data. Moreover, decentralization can help national government ministries reach larger numbers of local areas with services. A large part of the decentralization literature is fragmented along political, fiscal, or administrative lines. The main drive of the policy is to ensure equitable political, economic, and social development throughout the country, and to be a cornerstone of the fight against poverty by increasing peoples participation. More than a decade of decentralization in tanzania. From government decentralization to decentralized governance. Through a big bang approach, kerala implemented a significant fiscal decentralization program and then built the capacity of its local governments. During the 1990s, the government of tanzania introduced the decentralization by devolution d by d approach involving the transfer of functions, power and authority from the centre to the local government authorities lgas to improve the delivery of public goods and. Strong local government and decentralization are essential to this paradigm most countries around the world are therefore presently engaged in some initiative towards decentralizing the state and enhancing local government. Over the past three decades the developing world has seen increasing devolution of political and economic power to local governments. Groups at different levels of governmentcentral, meso and localare empowered to make decisions related to what affects them. These potential bene ts of decentralization have attracted a very diverse range ypranab bardhan is professor of economics, university of california, berkeley, california.
Historically, the concept of decentralization has never been a new concept in countries across the globe. The policy shifted from the former centralized system to the decentralized local governance system max, 1991. Today, around 23 of sdcs country programmes include a support to local governance andor 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. An assessment of local government discretion and accountability a large part of the decentralization literature is. In tanzania, decentralization can be traced back during the british rule in which various efforts to establish local government were undertaken starting with introduction of self rule, native authorities, municipal council and establishment of local government training school for training native authority workers and the councilors marx, 1991. Strengthening local government and civil society institutions through a process of decentralization, participation and capacity building for local governance is considered an essential precondition for. One such instance is the local elections, which took place in 1997 and 1998, following the local government act 1997.
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