Regional Dimensions of Capacity Building for Municipal Governments: Experiences and
Lessons learned from Eastern and Southern Africa
By
George Matovu
Regional Director, Municipal Development Partnership, Eastern and Southern
Africa
Reference paper during the LORC Symposium on developing a System for Local Human
Resource Empowerment and Local Policy Making from October12-14, 2003
This is a draft working paper designed to contribute to discussions on issues of capacity building
for local government in Africa. It is hoped that the final version will benefit from the insights of
local government practitioners in the region and beyond.
Introduction
The challenges facing municipal governments within the context of capacity building1 can be
guided by the following factors:

How the competencies of local governments can be improved to better deliver services,
alleviate urban poverty, create jobs, promote peace and security, prevent spread of
HIV/AIDS, and foster sustainable development;

The conditions under which municipal government officials should be expected to
demonstrate accountability and transparency.

The kind of capacity building programs that respond to the needs of municipal governments
and need to be developed.

The kind of institutions that should be involved in delivering such programs and who should
be targeted; and

How municipal governments be encouraged to take advantage of capacity building when it is
available to effectively participate in the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa
Development (NEPAD).
From the World Bank perspective cities and towns are considered functional when they are: (a)
livable, that is, they must ensure a decent quality of life and equitable opportunity for all
residents; (b) productive and “competitive”; (c) well governed and managed; and (d) financially
sustainable, or bankable. Another complementary perspective is that cities and towns should be:
(a) inclusive (politically right and sensitive; (b) credit worthy (books of accounts should be
clean); and (c) efficient (in delivery of services).
When African cities and towns are measured against these factors, they live a lot to be desired.
They are known for being overcrowded, with unplanned settlements, huge piles of rubbish and
filth, high levels of unemployment, run-down infrastructure, poor services, to mention a few.
Peter Morgan (1999: 14).described capacity building as “involves identifying the constraints and helping those need
to improve their ability to carry out certain functions or achieve certain objectives”
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However, on the other hand, African municipalities are centers of opportunities. They are the
growth centres that serve as incubators of local entrepreneurs, and provide the incentives for
transforming and modernizing societies.
This paper presents an overview of the regional perspectives on capacity building for urban local
governments that have emerged over the past two decades based on the challenges and
opportunities of the time. The paper draws on the experience of MDP as a continental institution
mandated to promote decentralisation and enhance capacity building for decentralised urban local
authorities. It is hoped the presentation will provoke thoughts and discussions that will add value
to the design and implementation of Africa Local Governance Program in the participating
countries – Mozambique, Tanzania in East Africa, and Ghana and Mali in West Africa.
The paper is organised as follows. Following this introduction, the paper gives a brief overview
of the current state of affairs in urban areas. This is followed by a brief outlay of what constitutes
capacity building. The next outlines the various perspectives and ideas that have dominated
capacity building over the last two decades. The paper concludes with an opinion expressed by
Col. Ngandwe the former president of the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) and
former Mayor of Kabwe Municipal Council in Zambia.
Situational Analysis
Poverty: One of the major challenges facing most central and local governments Africa is
poverty, which manifests itself in different ways. It is estimated that 340 million people, or half
the Africa’s population, live on less than US $ 1 per day. The mortality rate of children under five
years of age is 140 per 1000, and life expectancy at birth is only 54 years. In Africa, rural poverty
is more often recognised and addressed. This is not the case with urban poverty, which is often
less recognised. There is a presumption that those living in cities will automatically better access
to services. Woefully for the majority of urban dwellers, this is not necessarily so. Many live in
abject poverty and are often far worse off than their rural counterparts.
As rightly observed by Richard Stren (2001), there are very strong reason why government must
fight poverty. He points out that:

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Poor people cannot pay taxes or support public services without substantial levels of
government funding;
The very poor cannot contribute in a productive manner to the development of a pool of
skilled human resources necessary to generate goods and services in the modern competitive
economy; and
The poor cannot easily participate in community activities in order to provide facilities and
organisational structures at the neighbourhood level.
It is important to note however that effort are already underway in several Africa countries to
address poverty, with a deliberate shift to urban poverty. For example, the strategic goals for local
development in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, as set out in their respective PRSPs are in line with
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In Ethiopia the targets for poverty reduction set out
in the PRSP are: (i) a reduction in income poverty by about half by 2015, and from 44% in
1999/2000 to 40% in 2004/05; (ii) a reduction in infant mortality from 97 per thousand in
1999/2000 to 85 per thousand by 2004/05; and (iii) an increase in the gross primary school
enrolment rate from 57% in 2000/01 to 65% by 2004/05 (Government of Ethiopia, 2000). In
Kenya, the poverty reduction strategy comprises five elements namely: (a) to facilitate sustained,
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rapid economic growth;(b) to improve governance and security; (c) to increase the ability of the
poor to raise their incomes; (d) improve the quality of life of the poor; and (e) to improve equity
and participation (Government of Kenya, 2000). Unfortunately, going by current statistics, it is
increasingly becoming clear that halving poverty by 2015 - whether at global or national level
cannot be achieved. At the 2003 Spring Meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary
Fund, the World Bank made it clear that an annual sum of US$ 100 billion was required to attain
this goal (Eckhard Deutscher 2003 in Development and Co-operation Vol. 30, No. 8/9, p. 336).
HIV/AIDS: This situation is being exacerbated by the prevalence of the HIV / AIDS pandemic.
Sub-Saharan Africa is by far the region most affected by HIV / AIDS in the world. The region
which inhabits only 10% of the world’s population, accounts for 70% of the people living with
HIV/AIDS worldwide, 83% of the deaths related to AIDS, and 95% of the orphans due to AIDS
(UNAIDS 2002). The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is very high in countries such as Botswana,
Swaziland and Zimbabwe where more than 30% of their adult population are living with HIV /
AIDS. The impact of HIV/AIDS on central and local systems is daunting. The epidemic has: (a)
increased the demand on the health care systems, (b) reduced life expectancy to 38 years and
increased infant mortality, (c) reduced the ability of citizens to pay for services and taxes, (d)
threatened productivity due to absenteeism and loss of skills, and (e) increased the number of
orphans and child headed households.
Sectarianism and elitism: There is apparent sectarianism and elitism on the part of the urban area
politicians and administrators. In 400 BC, Plato (as cited by Molly O’Meara 2001: 337) observed
that “any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other the
city of the rich”. This observation is still as valid as it was in 400 BC. In the African context this
divide is no exception. There is a pervasive perception of “us and them”. Most top city
administrators in urban areas seem to regard the urban poor largely as aliens in the urban areas
who should return to the rural areas to till the land. Most often they seem to forget that the urban
areas equally belong to these administrators as it does to the urban poor. At the same time, due to
lack of nationalism on the part of both the administrators, politicians and urban citizens there is
also an apparent lack of belonging and commitment to long term solution to urban poverty and
unemployment. In Kampala for example, many administrators and urban dwellers have their
original home areas where they individually dream of returning when things in the city really go
bad. This creates less of a spirit of togetherness and well-being of the city such as concern with
cleanliness.
Infrastructure: Most urban authorities in Urban Sub-Sahara Africa are having difficulties
building and maintaining their infrastructure partly due to the high cost of imported inputs. In
many places, the infrastructure that was left behind by the colonial masters has crumbled without
building news ones. It is generally accepted however that the deteriorating terms of trade against
primary exports and massive devaluations and exchange rate depreciations in structurally
adjusting countries has had a negative impact on the municipalities’ ability to construct and
maintain their infrastructure.
Poor governance: Whereas it is true that municipalities lack financial, human and physical
capacity, several questions have been raised about the styles of governance and management in
many African cities. For example, in 2000 Arsene Balihuta asked; “…why is it that during the
colonial era urban governments were able to build and maintain more infrastructure when they
had relatively less real resources than their counterparts today”? He attributed this to current city
fathers and managers who are probably less visionary, more corrupt, less efficient and less
altruistic than those during the colonial era.
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Lack of capacity: Not withstanding the above question, there is no doubt that most of urban areas
south of the Sahara, apparently lack of financial, human and physical capacity. Cities usually get
grants and money from property, sales and income taxes. In theory, this means that, other things
remaining constant, the wealthier the city community and the more productive and higher the
level of economic activities, the higher the amount of financial resources that will be available to
the city administration. Outside South Africa, none of these conditions appear to be true for SubSaharan Africa. Council administrations in various countries have less money with which to
attract skilled workers and administrators, acquire equipment for building and maintain their
physical infrastructure, and construct buildings for their Councils.
Evolution of Governance: Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa are undergoing a process of
political, functional and fiscal decentralisation and democratisation. Through this process,
regional and municipal governments have gained increased importance in provision of basic
urban services as well as promotion of local development. The process of democratic
decentralisation is taking place at a time when the Africa region is urbanizing at one of the most
rapid rates in the world. Unfortunately however, the capacity to plan, manage and administer has
been overwhelmed by the rapid population growth which is rated at an average if 5 per cent.
Urban planners and managers have not been able to react well to this growth. The interrelatedness of the problems is so complex that conventional methods and traditional solutions can
no longer work. Management of cities is often made more difficult by speculative practices
especially in land management, poor information, lack of foreign currency, inadequate human
resources capacity, and discriminatory practices associated with gender, ethnicity, race religion,
or social status.
A combination of poverty, bad governance, poverty, poor infrastructure have come together to
undermine capacity building and lack of it. In deed, it has become a significant barrier to Africa’s
economic growth preventing the continent from tapping into global opportunities, resources, and
technological advancements and thus, compounding the poverty cycle and underdevelopment
even further.
What is Nepad?
Essentially, Nepad is a commitment by developed nations (primarily the West) to assist African
nations to get out of the economic and governance crisis they are in and develop to comparable
levels. In turn, African nations have to commit themselves to change their ways and attitudes
towards economic management and governance.
What does Capacity Building constitute?
It includes creating an enabling environment by providing the necessary tools for the job.
Capacity building is more than just improving the skills and competencies of those involved in
providing services. In 1991, Professor Akin Mobugunje pointed out that “…to spend substantial
sums of money training officials only for them to come back to find that they cannot operate
effectively because the local government has no working vehicle or telephone, or typewriter can
seriously undermine morale”.
It requires a clear and shared vision, unity of purpose and goals, and aspirations by
stakeholders and proper planning to attain the stated goals. Deborah Eade (2001) pointed that
“It does not help to train individuals when organisational vision is unclear, organisational culture
is unhelpful, and structure is confusing or obtuse. It does not help to secure resources when the
organisation is not equipped to carry out its tasks. It does not help to develop information
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management systems when the basic organisational attitude is one which rejects learning through
monitoring and evaluation in favor of frantic activity”.
It requires to remove obstacles and dealing with negative attitudes and behavior fostered
enhanced by outdated laws and regulations. In 1999, Kim Forss and Pelenomi Venson pointed
out that …capacity building is subject to a variety of interpretations. “Capacity building is not
necessarily growth and expansion. It is also about removing obstacles (such as outdated bye-laws)
and altering processes and approaches”.
It requires positive incentives to minimise institutional failures. Institutional failures in urban
service delivery are not only the result of a lack of technical knowledge on the part of local
government staff, but also reflect constraints and perverse incentives confronting local personnel
and their political leadership. These in turn are often caused by problems in the relationship
between central and local governments. [Source: The World Bank Better Urban Services: Finding
the Right Incentives (Washington, DC: 1995).]
Regional Perspectives on Capacity Building
Over the past two decades, a wide range of approaches to capacity building for African urban
local governments has been discussed and experimented. Perceptions on capacity building and
areas of emphases have varied from year to year depending on the challenges of the day as well
as the preferences of those supporting the process. In the following section, an attempt is made to
outline some of the perspectives and ideas that have dominated capacity building in the last two
decades.
Institution Capacity Building was considered critical to galvanizing transformations: When
African countries were obliged to embark on economic structural adjustment programs in the
early and mid-1980s, the focus was on ‘institution capacity building’ or ‘strengthening’. As a
matter of urgency, this required reviewing and adjusting internal organisational structures
(organisational re-engineering), systems, strategy and skills of individual organisation mainly in
the public sector. The emphasis was on lean and flat (economy) organisations. The rationale was
that once the organisational structures are right, performance would naturally follow. The second
aspect of re-engineering was the rehabilitation of institutions such as universities, hospitals,
roads, or building new facilities all together. Such interventions tended to be supply-driven, and
donor-driven and expatriate-driven.
Use of young expatriates and aid workers was introduced as a cheap strategy and mechanism
for establishing required capacity in place: The initial attempt towards building capacity for
local management involved bringing in young expatriates who were expected to transfer
responsibilities and competencies to nationals. Local nationals were expected to understudy their
counterparts and eventually take over when the expatriate left. What was achieved? Not much.
The reality was that transferring skills and knowledge encountered resistance from nationals who
felt that they new much more than the young expatriate. As a result, performance in infrastructure
and service provision remained poor and far from reaching people especially the urban poor.
Scholarship were provided to enable young professionals to study abroad to acquire not only
knowledge but also the right attitudes and work culture: As a matter of evidence, there was no
guarantee that this approach would produce the kind capacity needed to address the emerging
critical issues. Many beneficiaries of scholarships did not return to their countries leading to
further loss of capacity for national institutions. Secondly, the retention capacity of institutions
utilizing trained cadres especially the public service became weak because of low level of salaries
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and bad working conditions. Many well-qualified individuals resign from the civil service to join
either the NGO sector or the private sector.
The institutional capacity building was welcome but had clear flaws: The institutional
development approach was criticised on a number of fronts for failing to address the widespread
malaise in all public offices characterised by incidents of laziness, abstention, corruption,
rudeness and lack of courtesy to members of the public. At the local levels, there the following
flaws were observed. For example, in 2001 Mila Freire pointed out that in order to achieve
sustainable urban development in infrastructure and service provision, it was imperative first, to
have a more integrated approach across the physical environment, infrastructure net works,
finance and institutional and social activities and secondly to link capacity building to the issues
of governance. There were further observations. For example, first there was no meaningful
beneficiary or community participation in decision making even where their lives were directly
affected. There was no appreciation of corporate governance based on a shared vision, values and
principles transparency, accountability, honesty and integrity. At the national level in particular,
government departments were not sufficiently prepared to take lead in promoting public
administration reforms. To begin with, there was an acute shortage of skilled and well motivated
manpower to manage the rehabilitated or newly established institutions. Besides, the capacity for
sector policy analysis and development, project design, management, monitoring and evaluation
was also not available. Many governments responded by importing expatriates from all over the
world mainly from their former colonial masters.
Wide spread poverty and the social costs of economic structural adjustment forced
governments and donors to review capacity of institutions to alleviate poverty: The first
generation of structural adjustment programs that were implemented without a “human face” did
not only make the poor poorer but they also created a significant group of the new poor. In 1992,
the growing concern about the increasing poverty and the social costs of economic structural
adjustment forced central governments and donor agencies to start talking about an African
regional training program focusing, but not limited to, on (a) the design and management of
poverty alleviation programs and projects (b) systematic analysis of issues related to poverty, and
(c) facilitating exchange of experiences and innovative practices on how individual local
authorities are addressing the issue of poverty and its manifestations – crime and violence,
corruption in official transactions, prostitution, street children etc. There was a deliberate effort to
strengthen the capacity of central and local government and NGOs to formulate and implement
policies, sector programs and projects which would contribute to sustained reduction of poverty
while promoting and strengthening the participation of the poor and vulnerable groups in
activities which would improve their standard of living.
Decentralisation and democratisation was considered to be an effective tool for building
capacity for good governance and promoting quality of life of the urban poor: Towards the end
of 1980s, there was a clear policy shift which (a) promoted decentralising/devolving powers and
responsibilities to local government, (b) called for establishment of good governance with
emphasis on accountability, transparency, and integrity; (c) promoted democratic governance; (d)
called for meaningful community participation and the principle of subsidiarity, and (e) for
creating space for involvement of non-state actors (from civil society, NGO sector and private
sector) in municipal governance, local development, and delivery of services; (f) emphasized
capacity building for capacity building.
Capacity building for implementing economic reforms, decentralisation and democratisation
programs brought to the fore several issues which have shaped approaches to capacity building in
local government. For example, it emerged that decentralisation is a multi-faceted complex
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political process even when it was confined to one sector or agency, as was often the case. In that
regard, it required a multi-sectoral approach, which in turn require intensive coordination of
various government ministries or departments. It became a complex process because it did not
involve only one aspect public administration. It involved political, fiscal, and administrative
changes. It in varying degrees took on different forms including devolution, deconcentration,
delegation or privatization of services of government. It called for active participation of citizens
who in turn became more aware of their rights with sophisticated needs and demands.
Decentralisation is complex not only because of the form but also the different and conflicting
interests that are involved in the debate and operationalization. The different interests include;
reform minded politicians and operatives, conservative traditionalists, donors, and recipients of
the benefits of decentralization. Consequently, the implementation of decentralisation policies
requires, amongst others, the following consideration. First, a sound institutional architecture that
is culturally and politically sensitive and allows for detailed planning and coordination. Secondly,
human resources base that understands the demands and complexity of the challenges. A capacity
building approach that is capable of accommodating the complexity of views and interests. The
above considerations require a needs assessment program that is not only be technically sound but
also balanced and sensitive.
Our experience is many capacity building program have not achieved the desired results because
they are viewed with suspicion hostility and seen as a waste of resources.
Addressing attitudes and behaviors was considered critical in moving decentralisation forward:
As decentralisation unfolded, it became clear that there was urgent need to pay attention to
attitudinal and behavioral aspects at various levels. Even where policies were clear and guidelines
were getting in place in a countries like Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, both elected and
appointed officials, as well as the active citizenry reacted in different ways. For example at
central level, government officials particularly from sector ministries such as education, health,
works, environment were accustomed to making policy decisions and passing them over to local
authorities for implementation. In that regard, central officials resisted decentralisation because of
the fear to loose power, influence, as well as personal gains emanating from touring their areas of
jurisdiction. There was a perception that decentralisation would erode the power, authority, and
legitimacy of senior officials. Junior officials on the other hand, resists decentralisation because
they hated being posted to field offices. The transfer to a field office was perceived to be a
demotion or as a cut out from opportunities of personal benefits associated with being at
headquarters.
The problem attitude was highlighted almost by all ministers at the 1999 Ministers conference
that took place in Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Minister Jaberi Bidandi Ssali from Uganda, said,
…that there was need to generate adequate attitudinal change among central bureaucrats to give the
decentralisation programme unquestioned commitment and support2.
Minister Kingunge Ngombale-Mwiru of Tanzania put it thus;
“Devolution of powers and resources to local government authorities in essence means taking away
the same from Government ministries and institutions, which is in itself a big challenge. No
ministry or centralised institution will willingly give up power and resources. In order for
decentralisation to succeed, serious sensitisation of the entire political leadership should be
undertaken, and a common vision of the model of decentralisation should be agreed upon and
guided by law. The community should also be sensitised and mobilised so that they understand the
2
See paper presented by Minister Bidandi Ssali
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benefits which go with decentralisation and empowerment, so that they will own and cherish the
process”3.
There were also behavioral issues that need attention. For example, in many countries particularly
in Eastern Africa, local officials were (and still are) not accustomed to being accountable to local
residents. In Southern Africa, local people were not used to paying for public services and had the
mentality that development ideas and projects came from government. As Richard Bird once
pointed out (2001: p. 171), to many people the very idea of charging for public services seems
rediculous. Capacity building was called for to address such long-held attitudes and behaviour
patterns as strategy to bring about the desired change.
Establish honest behaviour and government is key to sustainable capacity building: The other
major component of capacity building that had been omitted until the 1990s was the need to
develop local integrity systems to fight corruption (the misuse of public power for private profit)
at municipal level. As Col. Ngandwe rightly points out (2003: p. 12), no amount of resources or
effort can yield sustainable development and satisfactory service delivery in the absence of local
integrity systems which prevent the scourge of corruption. Economic hardships that public
servants experienced as a result of structural adjustment programs resulted in unprecedented
corruption that adversely affected the capacity of central and local authorities to deliver services.
Decline in various aspects of integrity at various levels of governance significantly started
undermining the process of decentralisation, democratisation, institutionalisation of good
governance and overall socio-economic development. Studies in Eastern and Southern Africa
revealed however small the level of corruption, the practices resulted in inducing wrong decisions
and projects, unqualified individuals being awarded contracts, delivery of sub-standard services
and ultimately erosion of public confidence in public service and formal institutions.
It was against this background that MDP introduced programs for, among others, (i) raising
awareness of the effects of corruption with regard to services delivery; (ii) promoting service
delivery surveys to seek citizen opinions (satisfaction / dissatisfaction) of citizens regarding
corrupt tendencies in their local authorities and to set benchmarks against which the progress in
fighting corruption can be measured; (iii) empowering the various pillars of local government
integrity through workshops and seminars; (iv) developing leadership codes of conduct; (v)
developing clear public procurement processes which are understandable, transparent, open,
competitive, and fair; and (vi) promote development of charters for building integrity.
Broadening participation in municipal governance enhances the capacity of municipal
governance to incorporate the demand side in decision making: As Dele Olowu (2001) points
out, decentralisation does not imply only the vertical transfer of responsibilities and resources
from central to local governments (conventional conception of democratic or devolutionary
decentralisation), but also the development of horizontal networks between various sectors and
between sectors and local non-state actors (the private sector, civil society, and international
organisations). Capacity building from this perspective is needed to improve coordination and
consultation.
Given the complexity of urban issues, it is vital to promote a multi-disciplinary approach to
capacity building for sustainable urban development: Specialized training in fields like
engineering, law, medicine, and economics will continue to be an important way of providing a
human resource base for development. However, experience across the region show that the
3
See paper presented by Minister Kingunge Ngombale-Mwiru of Tanzania. Also see the paper presented
by Dr. Dele Olowu
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current professionals are so compartmentalized to the extent the they are not able to deal
effectively with complex problems such as poverty, corruption, and HIV/AIDS. In 1996, Richard
Stren expressed more or less a similar perspective when he pointed out that “… city management
has to be studied from a variety of angles and disciplines”. Stren went on to say that, “Today,
solutions to problems at the local level, as ell as urban success in the global environment, require
a non-ideological and multi-sectoral approach as well as popular participation in decisions
making. In light of this backdrop, it would be helpful if capacity building programs are capable of
promoting a multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral approach to city / municipal development and
management.
Promoting civic participation in municipal governance means promoting productive working
relations between those who govern and those who are governed: At the end of the 1990s, more
attention was given to strengthening civic participation in municipal governance when it became
increasingly clear that municipal governments were failing to deliver services and needed support
from the civil society. There emerged a genuine need to strengthen the capacities of both civil
society and local governments to work together more productively to design and implement
development programs. Civic participation was viewed to be an effective vehicle to shift decision
making from top-bottom approach to bottom-up approach and for enhancing (i) efficiency and
effectiveness in allocation of resources and delivery of municipal services; (ii) the establishment
of cost-sharing arrangement; (iii) empowering local communities; (iv) sustainability of benefits;
(v) accountability and; (v) poverty reduction and equity. Community capacity building would
include areas such as understanding of how municipal governments operate (Plummer, 1999),
participatory planning and budgeting, the rights, obligations and responsibilities of a citizen. On
the other hand, municipal officials would need skills (political, administrative, community
relations) to better manage and facilitate the involvement of non-state actors in local governance.
Private Sector involvement is needed to enhance efficiency in service delivery: The reforms in
public administration in the 1980s brought in the role of the private sector. Local governments
particularly the urban ones, came under pressure to create space for the involvement of the private
sector in service delivery as a reaction to accusations of inefficiency and corruption in public
institutions. Local authorities also came under pressure to start running their institutions on
business principles without compromising their social obligations, as well as equity and electoral
considerations. In some measure, local governments were required to begin to view their resident
or voters as their customers or clients and to treat them in a more responsive fashion (Mila Freire
and Richard Stren 2001: 194). As Richard Stren points out, fundamental changes were undertake.
Executive mayors, directly elected by the urban citizens came into existence and assumed the
new title of city managers. Town clerks were placed on contractual terms and came be known and
municipal directors (Tanzania), chief executive officers (Malawi), or urban managers (South
Africa). With these changes, local managers needed to be capacitated to know how to, among
others, establish an enabling environment and conditions for private sector involvement, become
enablers rather than controllers, regulate competition, promote fair public-private partnerships,
apply negotiation skills, handle tendering and contracting, prepare feasibility studies, prepare and
manage service contracts, pricing and administer cost recovery, handle labour issues,
environmental management, evaluate performance etc.
Understanding Central-Local Relations is a necessary condition for enhancing municipal
capacity to undertake the decentralised functions: There is also the issue of central-local
relations. The central problem here is the understanding and appreciation of the institutional and
legal frameworks governing the relations between the central and sub-national levels of
governance. In Zimbabwe for example, local government is a legislative rather than a
9
constitutional creature while in Uganda and South Africa, local government is provided for in the
constitution. In the case of Zimbabwe, local government has no independent constitutional
existence. One can safely say that it is an appendage of central government whose birth,
development and death is almost entirely in the hands of central government. As Eldred
Masunungure (2003) rightly advocates, something urgently needs to be done about central-local
relations to improve local governance.
Building and Improving Municipal Financial Capacity is key to successful democratic
decentralisation: It has now been established that central to any successful scheme of
decentralization is a sound fiscal decentralisation policy and a sustainable system of
intergovernmental fiscal transfers from the centre to regional and local jurisdictions as well as
allocation of expenditure responsibilities and authority to raise local revenues. The design of the
system of transfers can make an important contribution to efficiency, equity, poverty alleviation,
accountability and the consolidation of democratic forms of government. Local governments need
to be capacitated to put in place sound financial management particularly in handling revenue
sources and expenditures. The following conditions, amongst others, should be met:
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Clear and internally consistent systems of local revenues and expenditure
Transparent and predictable intergovernmental transfers
Prudent conditions for municipal borrowing
Generally accepted financial accounting practices
Sound asset management process (an accurate register for all assets; maintenance processes
to keep assets in good condition
Transparent procurement practices
Improving level of tax effort and administration, efficiency in collection of revenue, updating
cadastres and roster of service users, reforming poorly designed local revenue-generation
strategies and ensuring progressive system with appropriate instruments are some of the areas
capacity building is advocated.
In spite of the extent and speed of decentralisation, and the growing volumes of resources
available to local governments throughout Eastern and Southern Africa, the issue of
intergovernmental fiscal relationships has not been sufficiently analyzed, and debated. This
represents a major shortcoming in the process of decentralisation, and a potential obstacle to a
successful delegation and/or devolution of responsibility and authority.
Civic education is a significant input to empowering citizens and an effect way of
counteracting the culture of socio-political apathy: Capacity building for community
mobilisation and participation has come under spotlight as a significant strategy for enhancing
good governance and legitimacy of local authorities. Apathetic response to the local government
activities such elections broadened the debate on capacity building. Apathy by definition is
reluctance by citizens to participate or in the case of elections, electing not to vote or to stay
away. In principle, apathy is manifested in attitudes of despair and depression created by political
circumstances, non-involvement of people in important issues that affect their societies, lack of
interest in public affairs, an attitude of resignation, withdrawal and despair and a state of
hopelessness. Apathy is caused by a number of factors that include imposed leaders, corruption,
destructive power struggles, unfulfilled promises, just to mention a few. In the midst of dynamic
transformation, there is need advocacy for civic education to develop capacities and potential
among citizens on democratic challenges and opportunities, as well as the need to appreciate
issues of decentralised cooperation and coordination of local initiatives, power, governance, and
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development. The other aspect of civic education that has been called for in recent years is voter
education. This is a branch capacity building that focuses on preparation of citizens to participate
in a responsible manner in the governance of their communities.
Every individual no matter whatever level need to be capacitated to better address challenges
facing municipal government: Beneficiaries of capacity building for improving municipal
performance are many and varied. They can be grouped in the following categories:
Councillors and Mayors: Councillors are key actors in democratized local government. They
represent the citizens and are supposed to provide political leadership, have an appreciable level
of civic knowledge with ability to manage public affairs. However, until late 1980s, it was never
conceived that representation of ordinary people require a councilor to have extraordinary skills
(Allen Hubert 1990, p.80). Moreover, their engagement was on a part time basis. Experience has
proved that many elected councilors come to local authorities without prior management skills or
knowledge of local government systems. A region-wide consultation to establish the capacity
building needs of newly elected mayors revealed that mayors are interested in leaning about: how
to engage residents in municipal affairs meaningfully, how to improve the resource base for their
local authority, how to prepare strategic plans, how to attract investors, how to establish enabling
policy and institutional environments, how to guard against corruption, how to handle street
vendors, how to engage the private sector, how to commercialise or set rates for municipal
services, how to play a meaningful role in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and how to
respond to the needs of AIDS victims, how to protect the environment, how to protect children
and women against abuse and violence, and to deal with street children.
Chief Officers: While a number of professional training programs have been offered for technical
staff like finance officers, engineers, planners, etc, it is assumed that skills in fostering
participation and transparency would be acquired as one rises through ranks or by observing and
learning from the practical experience of older members of staff (Allen Hubert 1990, p.80). There
is need to equip mangers with formal knowledge, skills and attributes that are crucial for the
effective good governance.
Citizens: Citizens’ participation, especially the poor, in local government affairs is essential if
local governments are to be held accountable for their actions and transparent in transacting
business. By participating in decision making and planning processes, demanding quality
services, and holding local officials accountable, citizens can ensure that government truly
represent their interests.
In order to foster community participation in local government affairs, there is need to promote
civic education and community awareness programmes. Citizens need to be made aware of their
rights and responsibilities to demand, participate in and monitor delivery of services to their
community. They must be made aware of the cost of infrastructure, social services, and of the
need for mobilisation of resources including taxation for delivery of the services. They need to be
trained in participatory processes such as planning and budgeting, implementation and
monitoring. They must also be conscious of the accountability of the elected and appointed
officials to them, and their role in ensuring the integrity of their representatives.
Community Leaders: Community leaders also need appropriate training to enable them foster
citizens’ participation around issues of concern to them. Community leaders need to develop
knowledge about power relationships (who controls, where do the funds come from, roles and
responsibilities of citizens etc) and about financial mechanisms for services delivery. They also
need to learn how to collect information and present facts, how to prepare projects, how to
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mobilize the community to demand services and participate in their implementation, how to
influence change in policy, programmes and services.
Ministers and Top Officials: Ministers, top public officials and policy advisors of central
government ministries responsible for and / or involved with local government also need to
training. Whilst central government officials still control various resources, that lack adequate
skills and mechanisms for consultation with local authorities. There is need to develop skills in
consultation process to facilitate effective policy development.
Ministers need to be exposed to ideas and exchange of views on current central/local government
policy issues so that they may appreciate the role of local government in development and
promoting good governance.
Local government associations: Local government associations bring together those who work in
local government to share information and experiences, build support network, initiate policy
dialogue, present a common voice for local government on policy and management issues. Strong
national associations can play an important role by identifying the needs of their members and
could constitute a source of information on good local government practices.
In order for national associations to play their advocacy role effectively, they need to know how
to collect information and present facts, how to prepare policy positions and projects and
mobilize their members to influence change in policy, programmes, and services.
Professional Associations: Formation of professional Associations is also considered to be an
effective way of building local government capacity. Example are abound across the region.
These include for example the Namibia Association of Local Authority Officers (NALAO), the
Kenya Association of Chief Executive Officers (KACEO), the Town Clerks Forum of Zimbabwe
(TFZ), the Zimbabwe Institute of Planners (ZIMIP).
Donors and Development Partners: There is growing concern the development partners come
with preconceived ideas and objectives which contradict national aspirations. There is concern
that central governments are bypassed and partners initiate unsustainable projects at local level.
When such projects fail, both locals and government are blamed that they are incapable of
understanding their own development needs nor sustaining them. There is need to develop the
partner’s capacities for them to better understand and appreciate local values and intelligence to
avoid white elephants.
Research and Consultation: The experience of MDP since its launching is that one of the major
impediments to effective decentralisation and effective service delivery in municipalities is the
absence of action based research that can inform policy analysis and formulation as well as
monitoring and evaluation of impact. The research should emphasise a multidisciplinary approach
as well as participation of policy makers and beneficiaries to ensure ownership and maximum
utilisation of findings and recommendations. The current MDP agenda supported by the
Government of the Netherlands seeks to promote strengthening the capacity of urban local
governments for service delivery and poverty reduction. Besides, a two year study on access to land
by the urban poor for urban agriculture funded by the International Development Research Centre
(IDRC) is underway with a view to assisting urban local governments incorporate urban agriculture
in urban policy making, planning and management.
Perspectives on Training Institutions and Trainers
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Training Institutions and Trainers lacked adequate orientation to effectively participate in
strengthening the capacity of urban local governments: The development of capacity for
capacity building seems to have come in as an after thought in the mid 1980s. It was realized that
capacity building institutions – management institutes, universities, and research institutions were
not in tune with local government reforms. The situation was made worse by absence of national
training policies for reforming local governments.
Historically, professional training that directly benefits urban local government in Africa has
remained compartmentalized and in many ways disconnected from the realities on ground:
What is available in some countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe are well trained
professionals in fields such as engineering, planning, architecture, finance, medicine etc. but who
lack adequate orientation to local or municipal government. This is, it is assumed that orientation
towards local or municipal government would be acquired as one rises through ranks or “by
observing and learning from the practical experience of older members of staff” (Allen Hubert
1990, p.80).
Local governance is an art and a science. However very few training institutions in the region
have any qualification focusing on local government. There are very trainers who can claim to
have a clear appreciation of capacity building needs for management and development of cities.
As Erwin Schwella (1990) observed that whilst conventional educational and professional
training institutions in Africa are doing the best they can to close gaps in performance, training
programmes in conventional schools and institutes of public administration and management are
not dynamic given the tremendous training needs. Most of the courses are academic in their
content and methods and do not reflect the realities on ground. Besides, the trainers are not well
vast with participatory techniques, such as simulation, role playing, case studies which are taken
for granted in private sector management training.
There are hardly training institutions have gone beyond the emphasis on “professional”
training to look at training as a broader concept that must examine controversial areas as
ethics, integrity, transparency, and corruption: If training for accountability, transparency, and
participation is to gain importance, it will require to review current training curricular and
programmes, undertake needs assessment, design tailor-made interventions, and create
appropriate institutional arrangements for delivering such programmes.
Most of the training programmes are supply-driven: In most institutions, there is no effort to
involve client organizations in training needs assessment nor are there resources to enable
training institutions undertake post-training evaluation to get some ideas about the impact of their
training programmes on the client organization.
Many training institutions lack relevancy to their constituencies: Training institutions
experience: high rates of staff turn over caused by poor terms of service for faculty staff and as a
result high vacancy rate; inadequate funding for training programmes and support services; lack
of locally developed training materials; and inappropriate facilities for level of programmes
undertaken.
Lessons learnt
13
Capacity building needs to localised: As pointed out by Tomasz Sudra (1995) of UNHABITAT,
notwithstanding their weaknesses and shortcomings, national and local institutions, if facilitated,
can adequately provide capacity building at sufficiently large scale and with required continuity.
They have the vantage position to respond to the national and local needs taking into account the
cultural context and the socio-economic economic environment.
National association of local government: The existence of a national association of local
government which is supported by the central government and with paid up members is helpful to
capacity building institutions especially in identifying training needs as well as designing and
delivering training programmes that respond to local needs.
Reference and advising municipalities: Municipal authorities themselves should play a
central role in enhancing the capacity of the local government fraternity through
decentralised cooperation and direct mentoring. MDP has identified several types of
municipalities, each with a unique history and at a different stage of institutional, political, and
financial development.
Resource municipalities are those in Africa and around the world that have developed sectoral
expertise, and tools as well as acknowledge successful practice, and willingness to share their
experience with others. (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe; Jinja, Uganda; Windhoek, Namibia; Ilala, Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania; Porto Alegre, Brazil). The strategy involves promoting transfer of skills, technical
exchange visits and twinning, internships and apprenticeships for young professionals.
Reforming/transforming municipalities are willing to exchange ideas, learn from others, and take
action to transform municipal government to be more efficient, transparent, and equitable providers
of services. (Nairobi, Kenya; Kampala, Uganda; Blantyre, Malawi; Gweru, Zimbabwe). For
reforming municipalities the program involves promoting pilot programs for testing new
approaches, such as introducing local integrity systems, performance management systems,
integrated strategic planning, participatory budgeting, and gender and poverty assessments.
Uninformed municipalities in the past had limited information and exposure to new ideas but are
undefined to take action. Uninformed municipalities are reached through dissemination of good
practices via printed material, audio-visual aids, participation in regional and national work-shops, and
low cost study visits to nearby reference municipalities.
Sceptical municipalities have information but are not prepared to take bold steps to undertake
reforms. These municipalities are generally unsure of the implications of reform. Sceptical
municipalities reached through advocacy programs organised by AULA.
Since 1998 MDP made explicit strategy to support reform-minded municipal governments with a
view to use their capacity to strengthen the capacity of those municipalities with expressed needs.
Areas that have attracted a lot of interest include solid waste management, commercialisation of
municipal services, establishing local integrity systems, participatory budgeting, strategic planning,
and information management.
Using modern technology to revolutionalise capacity building: The MDP Africa Local
Government Action Forum (ALGAF) supported by the global distance learning technology of the
World Bank and the digital radio have resulted into expanded outreach for capacity building in
local government. The opportunity to access distance learning centres in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya,
14
Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Zimbabwe has enabled MDP to reach over 1000 participants
within a space of two years. Besides, the digital radio program that has been piloted in Malawi to
take care of the small rural municipalities who do not have access to distance learning facilities
has further extended the frontier for capacity building. Through the DL Centres MDP has been
able to organize the following courses. In addition to ALGAF, other interventions undertaken in
collaboration with the World Bank Institute include: Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations and
Local Finance, Urban and City Management Municipal Anti Corruption, and Local Economic
Development.
Conclusion
I will conclude by quoting what Col. Max Ngandwe said. For effective local government based
on democratic decentralisation to succeed, there is need for capacity building in its broadest sense
at all levels and in all sectors of Society.
Municipal service delivery which is at the centre of Local Government is a complex science, art
and business requiring tailor – designed institutions and suitably qualified and experienced
personnel at both political and officer levels to run and manage them properly. There are no
alternatives or short cuts to these basic operational requirements.
Capacity building does not develop by accident. It is a product of well-planned and implemented
process with adequate and appropriate investment. Paradoxically, many central governments,
especially in developing countries, give lack of adequate capacity at lower levels of the
governance structure as the reason for not decentralizing without making any effort to build such
capacity.
Yes, given the usually limited resources at the disposal of central governments against many
competing demands, investing in governance capacity building may not seem to rank high on
their priority list. But it is a question of what comes first between the chicken and the egg.
15
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