GOLD Report I - UCLG

AFRICA42 United Cities and Local GovernmentsVariousmechanisms havebeen tried to bringlocalpeople andcommunityorganizations intolocal publicmanagement,ranging frompublicizing themeetingsof localgovernmentbodies, required bylaw in manycountries, tovarious types ofdebates andconsultationbetween thosebodies and localpeople4. For instance, withthe exception of Mali,where elections havebeen postponed, theelectoral timetablehas been respectedover the last threeyears in BurkinaFaso, Niger, Guinea,South Africa andMozambique.Even secondment and other stop-gapstrategies must be considered partial,short-term solutions. The essential issueis the lack of financial resources to payfor qualified, high-level staff in localgovernments.The financial weakness of local governmentsleads inevitably to weak humanresources and limited management capacity—both are grave handicaps in implementingdecentralization policies inAfrica. Building local government projectmanagement capacity should thereforebe one of the priorities in all measuressupporting decentralization and betterlocal government in Africa.IV. Local democracyThe following table gives a picture of localdemocracy in each country.IV.1. Local political systemWhen putting democracy into practice atthe community level, local governmentsoften face the same difficulties as modernstate systems —a variety of local, tribaland family loyalties and traditions thatinfluence civic behavior. For example,there may be a tendency to reject thenotion that "people from outside" mighthave a right to stand for election locally"when they are not from around here". Inother places, such as Senegal, electorallaw requires candidates to have partyaffiliation in local elections. This affiliationwith established parties increasesthe risk that standing for election willhave more to do with national party politicsthan with the needs and preferencesof local voters. Despite such difficulties,local democracy has made undeniableprogress. In many countries, one sign ofincreased vitality is an increase in turnoverof municipal teams from one localelection to another. This turnover isapparent even in countries where changein political power is rare at parliamentary,presidential or central government levels.And indeed, the lively turnover of powerincreasingly seen in local elections remainsalmost unthinkable at top governmentlevels in the majority of Africannations.Participatory democracy can be fosteredonly if the cultural bedrock already favorsconsultation, debate and participation incollective decision-making. In this regardthe picture in Africa is mixed, with substantialprogress in many countries but nomovement in others, the latter includingEgypt, Togo, Tunisia, Central AfricanRepublic and Chad. Overall gains intransparency and accountability remainfragile.The first indicator of progress is the consensusregarding universal suffrage. Notonly has the principle of election becomewidely accepted for local offices, but Africanlocal elections are also being heldwith a regularity unprecedented in thehistory of Africa 4 .Another indicator regards the possibilityof holding several local mandates at thesame time, or holding a local mandatealongside a national one. This is highlyrestricted and may even be entirely forbidden.In most countries political partiescontinue to monopolize local and nationalpolitics, but many countries do allowindependent candidates in local elections.Those nations include Mozambique, Benin,South Africa and Mauritania. In Ghanapolitical parties are excluded fromlocal elections entirely; the list is openonly to independent candidates.IV.2. Citizen participationSigns of progress toward representativedemocracy include publicizing officialmeetings and encouraging local peopleand community organizations to take partin open discussion of local issues. Forexample, in Zambia, residents are involvedin the implementation of certain