GOLD Report I - UCLG

AFRICA40 United Cities and Local GovernmentsThe weak financial capacity is exacerbatedby persistent limitations and failings inadministrative capacities and human resources.III.3. Administrative capacityIII.3.1. Human resourcesThe advent of decentralization has revealeda shortage of trained personnel in Africancountries, all of which lack qualified staff inlocal administrations. This dearth of trainedpersonnel makes it all the more difficult forlocal governments to handle additionalpowers transferred to or granted them.Some countries such as Morocco and Malihave opted to establish a territorial civil service,with the aim of making local jobs look more attractiveand of conferring on local government staff allthe advantages granted to state civil servants.A lack of information about the qualificationsof local government staff membersprecludes a comprehensive accounting ofstaff numbers and skills. Still, data providedby several countries provide an instructivesample. Data from Benin, Côte d’Ivoire,Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia show a verylow percentage of the population holdingstaff positions in local government. In thesecountries, the percentage of citizens in alllevels of government ranges from 0.49% to3.11%. At the local level it varies from0.012% to 0.46%: below one staff memberper 100 inhabitants. For the countries providingdata the percentages are:• Benin: 0.49% at the national level,0.012% at the local level.• Côte d’Ivoire: 0.69% at the nationallevel, 0.029% at the local level.• Senegal: 0.73% at the national level,0.06% at the local level.• Morocco: 1.7% at the national level,about 0.46% at the local level.• Tunisia: 3.86% at the national level,0.2% at the local level.Remedies proposed to date fall into one oftwo categories: capacity-building withinlocal governments themselves, and transferringstate personnel to local governments.Table 4 illustrates the position.III.3.2. Existence and level of trainingof the principal municipal officialsMost local governments need a minimumteam to assist the mayor with his or herfunctions. This administrative core is madeup of the secretary-general for generaladministrative and personnel management,the director of technical services, and thedirector of financial services. Municipalitiesin the major urban centers typically havesuch a team, or the means to recruit it.The financial weakness of municipalitiesresults in weaknesses in human resourcesand management skills in local government.This is a severe drawback for the implementationof decentralization policies. Strengtheningproject management capacities of localgovernment should be a crucial part of alldecentralization support programs.III.3.3. Status of local governmentpersonnelThe most common method for addressingthis shortfall of personnel is to transfer statesenior civil servants to local governmentsby secondment or by granting leaveof absence. Consequently, in many countriesthe mayor's technical team is comprisedof senior officials drawn from the state.Some countries, such as Morocco and Mali,have established a territorial civil service withthe aim of making local jobs look more attractive,and of conferring on local governmentstaff all the advantages granted to state civilservants. This strategy is designed to stimulateinterest in local jobs that are perceived assecond-rate positions. In many countries,state civil servants regard appointment tolocal jobs as a punishment or a disgrace.