EAZ – PUBLIC DISCUSSIONDecember 4, 2008

THE ROLE OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN DECENTRALISATION

Presentation by:

Dr. Peter Kaumba Lolojih

Democratic Decentralisation(Political decentralisation or Devolution)

• The transfer of powers and resources to sub-national authorities which are: (a) largely or wholly independent of the central government, and (b) democratically elected.

Local communities and Decentralisation

Involvement in the decision-making process – local communities make their own decisions through their local leaders

Problem solving – local communities are encouraged to find solutions to everyday problems >>> innovative ideas that are more in tune with local conditions

Community Driven Development – empowers local communities to exert influence over local governance/services

Requisite community characteristics

• Capacity to demand and support democratic government

• Realisation that communities are principal players and a source of political legitimacy in local administration

• Capacity, and the interest to hold local officials accountable

• Willingness to take responsibility in the process of public service delivery

AFROBAROMETER• A comparative series of national attitude surveys on Democracy, Markets and

Civil Society in Africa

• It is an independent, non-partisan research instrument that measures the social, political and economic atmosphere in Africa. Afrobarometer surveys are conducted in many African countries on a regular cycle. Because the instrument asks a standard set of questions, countries can be systematically compared and, ultimately, trends in public attitudes can be tracked over time.

• So far – 1999 (12 countries); 2003 (16 countries); 2005 (18 countries); 2008 (20 countries) - on going

• National probability sample >>> random selection methods; PPPS

• Funded through grants: National Science Foundation; SIDA; USAID; World Bank; ADB; Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; DFID

• Core Partners: MSU (USA); CDD (Ghana); IDASA (South Africa)

Zambians’ views on Democracy

73% of Zambians associated democracy with:- civil liberties/personal freedoms (33%)- Government by, for, of the people/popular rule

(9%)- Voting/elections/multiparty competition (21%)- peace/unity/power sharing (4%)- Social/economic development (2%)- Equality/justice (1%)- Majority rule (1%)- Governance/effectiveness/accountability/rule of

law (2%)- Don’t know/did not understand the question

(20%)

Support for Democracy

75

9 12

70

1510

64

11 12

01020304050607080

1999 2003 2005

Democracy preferable Non- Democratic Govt. preferableDoesn't matter

22

4

35

19

9

44

10 11

72

3

14

81

2

21

78

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

No formal schooling Primary education Secondary education Post-secondary University education

Support for Democracy by level of education in Zambia: 2005

Doesn't matter Non-democratic Preferable Democracy preferable

27

8

65

22

12

66

25

15

60

23

10

67

29

10

61

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

18-25 years 26-33 years 34-41 years 42-49 years 50 and above

Support for Democracy by age group in Zambia: 2005

Doesn't matter Non-democratic Preferable Democracy preferable

Which of the following statements is closest to your view?

Statement A: We should choose our leaders in this country throughregular; open and honest elections.

Statement B: Since elections sometimes produce bad results, weShould adopt other methods for choosing this country’s leaders.

Choosing leaders

55

32

7 5

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Agree very strongly with A Agree with AAgree with B Agree very strongly with B

9591

8085

90

72

92 9186

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1999 2003 2005

Rejection of Authoritarian rule in Zambia: 1999 - 2005

Reject military rule Reject one-man rule Reject one-party rule

SATISFACTION WITH DEMOCRACY

In your opinion, how much of a democracy is Zambia today?

5

44

22

10 9

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Not a democracy

Democracy withmajor problemsDemocracy but withminor problemsA full democracy

Don't know

Overall, how satisfied are you with the way democracy works in Zambia?

16

37

21

5

20

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Not at all satisfiedNot very satisfiedFairly satisfiedVery satisfiedDon't know

In your opinion, how likely is it that Zambia will remain a democratic country?

4

25

37

8

26

05

10152025303540

4th Qtr

Not at all likely Not very likely Likely Very likely Don't know

POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

Here is a list of actions that people sometimes take as citizens. For each of these, please tell me whether you, personally, have done any of these things during the past year.

Attended a community meeting? Joined with others to raise an issue? Attended a demonstration or a protest march?

Political Participation

6

30 3035

10

47

2418

52

38

82

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

meeting Joiners demo/Protest

No - would never No - would if had a chanceOnce or twice Several times/Often

Political Awareness of Incumbents

Can you tell me the name of your Member of Parliament?

6 4

63

27

010203040506070

1st Qtr

Know but can't remember Incorrect guessCorrect name Don't know

Can you tell me the name of your Local Government Councillor?

136

35

46

0

10

20

30

40

50

1st Qtr

Know but can't remember Incorrect guessCorrect name Don't know

FORMAL CONTACTING

During the past year, how often have you contacted a Local Councillor about some important

problem or to give them your views?80

117

2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Never Only once A few times Often

During the past year, how often have you contacted a Member of Parliament about some important problem or to give them your views?

88

83 0

0102030405060708090

Never Only once A few times Often

During the past year, how often have you contacted an official of a Government Ministry about some important

problem or to give them your views?

89

6 4 10

102030405060708090

Never Only once A few times Often

INSTITUTIONAL TRUST

How much do you trust each of the following, or haven’t you heard enough about them to say: your elected Councillor?

21

40

21

12

6

0

10

20

30

40

Not at all Just a littleSomewhat A lotDon't know/Haven't heard enough

SELECTED VIEWS ON CORRUPTION

How many of the following people do you think are involved in corruption, or haven’t you heard enough

about them to say?

Elected Councillors?

8

48

28

7 9

0

10

20

30

40

50

None Some of themMost of them All of themDon't know/Haven't heard enough

Local Government Officials?

6

43

34

611

0

10

20

30

40

50

None Some of themMost of them All of themDon't know/Haven't heard enough

Putting it all together

• Sufficient demand for democracy• Inadequate supply of democracy• Insufficient interaction between communities and local

officials• Somewhat low levels of institutional trust (Councillors)• Inadequate and unreliable local authority financing• General dissatisfaction about local authority performance

(communities)• Some resistance to fulfil statutory obligations in a timely

manner (communities)

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Some Ideas• Enhance the appreciation of democratic decentralisation

(political decentralisation, or devolution) in MDAs, and communities

• Statutory prescription for minimum levels of formal interaction between elected Councillors and their constituents (communities)

• Enhance the supply of democratic governance at the local authority level

• Ensure adequate appreciation of the principal role of communities in democratic decentralisation

• Assist communities to articulate their interests, carry out their mandates and responsibilities >> effectively participate as citizens in democratic processes

• Ensure sufficient resources to anchor the process of decentralisation

For More Information on Afrobarometer:including

downloadable versions of questionnaires, data sets, results and publications

see

www.afrobarometer.org

You can also contact:

Dr. Peter Kaumba Lolojih at plolojih@yahoo.com

Tel: 295150 (Office); 294030 (Home)Mobile: 0955-831969

THANK YOU