Decentralization is the transfer of part of the powers of
the central government to regional or local authorities (Craster, L & O'Toole, M. ,1995).
Centralization is in response to the need for national unity, whereas
decentralization is in response to demands for diversity. Both forms of administration coexist in
different political systems. There seems to be a consensus since the 1980s that
too much centralization or absolute local autonomy are both harmful and that it
is necessary to put in place a better system of collaboration between the
national, regional and local centers of decision-making
Decentralization refers
to the transfer of state national responsibilities or functions from central
Government to sub-national levels of government, or from central agencies or
offices to regional bodies or branch offices, or to non-governmental
organizations or private concerns. It
can be described as the redefinition of structures, procedures, and practices
of governance to be closer to the citizenry.(Max M. A. O.,1991).
Decentralization can take several forms. Deconcentration, delegation, and devolution
are generally recognized as the main forms of decentralization. Local
government can be defined as a sub national level of government which
has jurisdiction over a limited range of state functions, within a defined
geographical area which is part of a larger territory. Some persons prefer
however, to define it as decentralized administration, democratically
controlled by local communities.
Local governments are divided into higher
level and lower level governments.
Higher-level local government (HLG) governance body is constituted by
elected members (Councilors), one from each of the wards and staff who are
recruited either by the central government or by the councils themselves. Its role is to supervise local government
executive that is headed by the Council Director. Lower level government (LLG) consists of two
major organs of governance at the village level, village assembly (VA) and
Village Council (VC). The Ward
Development Committee (WDC) is responsible for coordinating development
activities and planning at the Ward level and linking with the district level.
Standing committees consist of members elected by the council, which decides
the number of committees and specifies the mandate of these committees. There are two main types of committees at
council level: standing or sectoral committees and ad hoc committees.
Many countries around the world have embarked
on decentralization programmes, in many developing countries like in the United
Republic of Tanzania introduced her policy in 1972 the main reasons for its
introduction were;
The prevailing ruling party policy in the
early 1970s was to reorganize the government administration so as to conform
with the socialist development. Reorganization of the government was supposed
to provide a system that gave more local freedom for both decision-making and
participation in matters, which were primarily of the local impact.
To establish working local governments that can deliver
quality services to the people in a participative, effective and transparent
way, where local authorities are directly accountable to the local people.
To increase the proportions of shared
revenues going to local government, introducing supplementary intergovernmental
transfers, improving local revenue collections, improving local financial
management through rolling out the integrated financial management or accounting
system (platinum) and training local officials.
To reform the
culture of centralized bureaucracy that has failed to deliver good quality
services to the poor, and which has stifled local enterprise. It is determined to build a public service that
is lean, transparent, accountable, and above all effective, economic and
efficient.
The decentralization policy introduced in 1972 in the
United Republic of Tanzania aimed to work on the following;
To improve service delivery by
making local authorities more democratic and autonomous within the framework established by central government and under
conditions of severe resource constraints.
To improve accountability and efficiency of
human resource use at the local level.
For example, the decentralization over Human Resource, The broad
intention here is to give local authorities full control over their human
resource inputs through allowing them authority over the size of their
establishments, appointments and promotions, management issues, and-in the long
term conditions of service. Other key
activities relate to improving the internal management capacity and procedures
of local authorities (through the production of various guidelines and
regulations) and capacitating and training of local staff.
To restructure local authorities so that they
respond more effectively and efficiently to identify local priorities of
service delivery in a sustainable manner.
In support of this, a tool was designed to identify local priorities,
the participatory planning tool called opportunities and obstacle to
Development.
The decentralization of policy in the United
Republic of Tanzania has the following major functions in its introduction as
follows;
To manage environment conservation. The
decentralization of policy in Tanzania was introduced to simplify the control
of the environment like soil erosion and animal wilds, at the previous time the
environment were not supervised at the good extent hence the Government
distributed an authorities to the local government to ensure the effectives
supervision of the environment.
To increase an accountability to the local
leaders. At the previous, the local
leaders were seemed to be less participating in the process of the National
development of Tanzania hence the Government introduced this policy to increase
accountability to ensure the development in Tanzania by providing the
responsibilities that are supposed to be implemented at the local Government.
To manage development to the local Government
level. The united Republic of Tanzania
introduced this policy to remove the regions that were seemed to be more
developed and others to be less developed.
This means that the Government ensured this to make the equalization of
the region development of Tanzania because the local leaders were given more
powers to control the local development.
To reduce the burden from the central
Government. The Government introduced this decentralization policy in Tanzania
to simplify the obligations from the central government to the local government
so that some of the responsibilities to be implemented at the local level,
hence this reduce the burden from the central Government
Decentralization, which is best manifested in strong,
autonomous, and vibrant systems of local government, offers numerous strengths
as a model of governance or public administration as follows.
Decentralization policy, including substantial fiscal
decentralization, It provides a framework which facilitates and stimulates
local sustainable development throughout all regions of the country, because of
the following more functions will now be performed at the local level, thereby
creating opportunities for locals with technical, managerial and leadership
skills to remain in the region, thus reducing the rural or urban brain-drain,
and enhancing local capacity to manage local affairs and spearhead local
development, Devolution enables each region to take initiatives for their own
development, as they see fit. In doing
so, they will know of the opportunities, indigenous resources and comparative
advantages on which development can be based, and Planning for local
sustainable development is affected through a participatory process in which
the partners forge a collective vision for local development, agree on common
goals, and on strategies or plans for achieving the goals and realizing the
vision.
Decentralization facilitates greater popular
participation in governance, as illustrated by the following; It brings
government closer to the people, and thus enables citizens to be better
informed and to better understand the conduct of public business. This facilitates
the forging of a strong relationship between the governors and the governed and
identification of the people with their government, which helps to reduce
alienation from the political process, It also serves to reduce disruptive or
anti-social behavior by citizens in seeking to get their Concerns addressed, or
taken into consideration, It provides a conducive environment for creation of a
civic culture of cooperation, tolerance and trust among the various groups
which comprise the local society, also Communities will find it easier to
pursue their development objectives, and obtain support from local government,
by their participation as a full partner in the local governance process and It
facilitates the empowerment of civil society institutions and networks, as
citizens perceive the benefits of working in collaboration with local
government, to advance their interests. They will therefore organize themselves
into appropriate organizational forms, to pursue that objective.
Decentralization increases efficiency in determining
service provisioning a decentralized, participatory system, citizens can
influence decisions about service provision through mechanisms which enable
them to indicate the type, level, quality and mix of services they desire, and
the cost they are willing to pay for such services. This constitutes a type of
market mechanism for determining service provision in a manner, which responds
to the wishes of citizens, and is sensitive to their willingness or ability to
pay. This will not only optimize citizen
satisfaction, but is also an excellent mechanism for reconciling citizens
expectations to the resources available and or
the price which they are prepared to pay for the services desired.
Decentralization facilitates a better division of labor
in the management of public affairs. The creation of strong local governments
with the capacity to effectively manage local affairs enables central
government to concentrate on higher-level functions. This both improves efficiency and creates
more effective checks and balances. A
major weakness of public administration in the Caribbean is the neglect of
high-level functions such as policy formulation, strategic planning, setting
standards, and monitoring, because central agencies are pre-occupied with
operational level matters, while neglecting areas, which could make a
qualitative difference in public management.
Devolution allows each level of government to Focus on the aspects of
public management that it is best suited to perform.
Decentralization facilitates the tailoring of solutions
for local problems to local conditions. Since each region is empowered to
manage their own affairs, they will be able to tailor programmes or solutions
to local problems to reflect the special circumstances or preferences of their
respective regions or localities. Decentralization provides the opportunity for
a wider diversity of innovations, and increases flexibility of government in
the context of changing circumstances.
This is so because the decentralized, participatory model of governance
mainstreams the many groups or citizens who were previously excluded, and
creates greater scope for local and community self-management. This means that the vast reservoir of talent,
innovativeness, creativity, problem solving capacity and leadership qualities,
which have previously laid dormant in the local population, is now able to find
expression, and can be applied to the problems, visions and aspirations of the
local community, and will also be available to contribute to nation
building. Such diversity or flexibility
are important pre-conditions for significant policy and Pragmatic changes.
Decentralization broadens the potential for societal
capacity building. Weak capacity is one of the main constraints to national
development and good governance in the Caribbean. The authoritarian,
over-centralized model of governance or public administration is a major
inhibitor to capacity development, because it narrows the amount of people who
are allowed any meaningful role in the process. A decentralized, participatory
model of governance dramatically increases the opportunity for involvement, and
provides space for persons to contribute at several different levels.
Decentralization facilitates the mobilization of local resources
in support of the development process, and enables value-added contributions to
the provision of services and development efforts, which increases the total
value of services provided, or development achieved, from the limited formal
resources available. This happens
because local people are able to identify and mobilize local or indigenous
resources, which would not be available to centrally run programmes, and
because citizens are often willing to volunteer free labor and expertise, and
other forms of in-kind contributions, in order to support local initiatives.
The decentralization policy introduced in the United
Republic of Tanzania has the following weakness;
Government expenditure increased tremendously,
bureaucracy extended to villages and regions and districts were not allowed to
tax and raise their own revenue. All funds for recurrent and capital investment
came from the national budget.
Genuine people's participation was almost impossible due
to the absence of councils. They lacked people who can assist them in the
implementation of the policy.
The relatively large distances between centers within a
region and the difficulties of accessibility and communication bottlenecks made
participation martially impossible,
Sustainability of projects was difficult because of lack
of democratically elected representation, empowerment, and accountability.
Decentralization brought higher risks of resource or
power captured by local elites or special interest groups. Without adequate safeguards, there was a risk
that powerful or well placed local elites were be able to capture the resources
or powers allocated to or conferred on local authorities, and use these
resources or powers for their own benefit or interest. It is therefore essential that in formulating
the decentralization arrangements, provisions be included to prevent the
process being high jacked by any single group or small elite.
Misuse of authority due to inadequate supervision or weak
accountability mechanisms constitutes a real risk of devolution. This happen when central government
supervision or accountability function was removed due to the new autonomous
status of local governments, but no alternative mechanisms for accountability
are put in place. It is therefore imperative that particular attention be paid
to the issues of oversight or accountability in conferring greater autonomy on
local governments. This could include
legislation to ensure transparency and openness in the conduct of local affairs,
and new mechanisms for accountability, such as the empowerment of civil society
entities to undertake watchdog functions .It should be noted however, that
where devolution is within the framework of participatory local governance, the
risk of weak accountability is minimized, because invariably the civil society
partners will insist on and provide such mechanisms.
Inadequate implementation arrangements that led to
disparity between the revenue available and the mandated responsibilities or
functions of local government, which render them ineffective and or bring them
in disrepute or discredit. There are many examples of hastily conceived schemes
for decentralization or local government reform, which are not well
thought-out, and which have failed or brought discredit to the concepts because
of deficiencies in planning or implementation arrangements. A key requirement of decentralization is
therefore careful planning and implementation arrangements. Given the complex nature of most
decentralization or local government reform initiatives. A pilot approach is often prudent.
For successful implementation of decentralization
policies in the the United Republic of Tanzania the following should be
observed;
Adopting and applying the cascade approach (a process by
which knowledge and information is passed on successively) with the aim of
quickly and effectively equipping key people in the system with the skills and
knowledge required to manage decentralized functions.
Understanding and appreciating the distinction between
environments because capacity building takes place in varied political, social
economic contexts; each system must search for the most appropriate form or
type of capacity building.
Understanding the variations in performance by different
municipalities due to their different sizes (large or small), locations (rural
or urban), track records, and ability to take in innovative practices.
Premising capacity-building efforts on solid and clear
objectives, which ought to be S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable,
Realistic, and Time-bound), bearing in mind that initiatives need to be
specific about what aspects of capacity are being addressed, (technical, or
organizational, or attitudinal) and should pay attention to results and
outcomes.
Identifying and correctly positioning champions in each
sector to manage the process (and to be used as mentors in) of the transition
from centralization to decentralization of management. They can be enjoined to motivate others and
influence mindsets.
Capitalizing on the concept of 'Resource Municipalities
and Peer-to-Peer Learning' for purposes on mobilizing hands-on innovations and
expertise.
The current process of decentralization in
Tanzania has produced mixed results in terms of the degree in which power and
responsibility for the management of the environment at the local level is
shared. Decentralized institutions lack the capacity to manage the environment
and conserve natural resources. This is furthered by the fact that little or no
resources are available to the institutions entrusted with the duty of managing
the environment. In addition, Decentralization
policy is generally regarded as critical for efficiency, equity, and
participation. With regard to
efficiency, decentralization contributes to identifying local priorities,
potentialities and resources for the appropriate preparation, implementation
and sustainable management of projects. With regard to equity, local
governments are often in a good position to administer services that have
important redistributive implications, such as primary health care, education,
child care, housing and public transportation. With regard to participation,
the identification and mobilization of all available resources and their
deployment in accordance with popular needs requires direct participation.
REFERENCES
Craster,
L & O'Toole, M. (1995) Local
Government Decentralization: An idea
Policy Paper No. 125, United Kingdom: SAUS
Publication.
Cooksey,
B. & Mmuya,M.( 1997).The Use and
Quality of Health Services in Rural
Tanzania. Dar es Salaam .TADREG Working.
Chema, G.S. and
Rondineli, D.A. (eds),( 1983).Decentralization
and Development:
Policy
Implementation in Developing Countries, Beverley Hills, and London.
Sage.
Max M. A.
O. (1991): The Development of Local Government in Tanzania.
Dar es Salaam: Education
Publishers and Distributors Ltd.
Mukandala,
R.S (1998): Decentralization and Democratization in Tanzania.
Occasional Paper No. 46, University of Iowa: Iowa
http://www.afrst.uiuc.edu/Makerere/Vol_2/chapter_five.html.
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