What are the achievements of Tanzania’s Local Government Reform Programme (LGRP)? This study by the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR) addresses this question by analysing changes in the provision of basic services, in governance, and local authority capacity for financial management and revenue enhancement. It argues that the reforms have had limited success to date and outlines areas for further work.
Local government autonomy (both fiscal and administrative) is crucial for the success of local government reforms. One of the central objectives of reform is to transfer power to the lower level by giving various functions and decision-making powers to local communities. This envisages enhanced citizen participation. Trust between local government and society is therefore important, as are changes in the ability of civil society to act as development agents. Without improved relations, co-operation between leaders and citizens will not be possible.
In Tanzania, there are a number of policy and legal requirements that hamper local government autonomy. Despite these limitations, there has been substantial development in the process of decision-making – especially through attempts to include citizens in the planning process. Of the systemic reforms, fiscal decentralisation is seen as of highest priority, affecting the local government’s autonomy. Local service delivery in Tanzania has improved, but citizens are still dissatisfied with the accessibility, quality and affordability of almost all the public services. Primary education stands out as the only service rated as satisfactory and improving. Despite bold claims, the reforms have their limitations.
- The fiscal autonomy of rural district councils is restricted both with respect to revenues and expenditures.
- Citizens trust their elected leaders, however there is less trust between councillors and council bureaucrats.
- Financial constraints have led to fewer council meetings. Councillors are often not given adequate time to analyse issues before decisions are made in council plenary sessions.
- Corruption is a major problem. Although many people believe that corruption should be eradicated, most of them do not report corrupt practices by council officials.
- Both councillors and council staff complain that the reforms have not given them the autonomy they were promised. In particular, they complain that the government abolished taxes without consulting them.
- Councillors feel unable to control senior council staff because they do not hire them.
Future research needs to examine more closely:
- The relationships between public reform policies, the financial situation and management and performance in service delivery.
- Sector-specific development programmes and their governance design in terms of decentralisation.
- Changes in local government’s own revenue generation, in order to identify key factors that may explain these changes.
- Local autonomy in hiring staff.
