George Matovu

Municipal Development PartnershipEastern And Southern Africa

Capacity Building Workshop for Urban Local Authorities in

Ethiopia from October 2-3, 2003October 2-3, 2003

Paper on Regional Perspectives of Capacity Building: Highlights of Experiences and Lessons learned from Urban Capacity Building Initiatives across Eastern and Southern Africa

By George Matovu

MDP-ESA

George Matovu

Purpose of the Paper• To present an overview of the African regional

perspectives on capacity building for urban local governments

• To highlight the challenges and opportunities of the time.

• To share the MDP the experience of MDP • To provoke thoughts and discussions that will

add value to the design and implementation of urban development policies in Ethiopia.

George Matovu

Structure of the Paper

• Introduction

• Situational Assessment

• What constitutes capacity building.

• Perspectives and ideas on capacity building

• Perspective on training Institutions

• Conclusions

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Factors for consideration

The conditions under which local government officials should be expected to demonstrate accountability and transparency.

The kind of capacity building programs that respond to the needs of local government and need to be developed.

The kind of institutions that should be involved in delivering such programs; and

How can local government be encouraged to take advantage of capacity building when it is available.

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Parameters of the World BankMunicipalities are considered functional whenthey are:

• Liveable - must ensure a decent quality of life and equitable opportunity for all residents

• Productive and “competitive”

• Well governed and managed

• Financially sustainable, or bankable.

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The image of African towns

• Overcrowded

• Unplanned settlements

• Huge piles of rubbish and filth

• High levels of unemployment

• Run-down infrastructure

• Poor services

• Centres of poverty

• High crime rate

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Situational Analysis

• Poverty: 340 million people of 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.

• Rural poverty is more often recognised and addressed.

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Results

• 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

• The poor cannot participate in community activities

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HIV/AIDS:

• 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).

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ResultsThe epidemic has: • Increased the demand on the health care systems, • Reduced life expectancy to 38 years and increased

infant mortality, • Reduced the ability of citizens to pay for services

and taxes, • Threatened productivity due to absenteeism and

loss of skills, and • Increased the number of orphans and child headed

households.

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Sectarianism and elitism In African public administration, there is apervasive perception of “us and them”. • Central government Vs. local government

officials. Local government officials are considered less competent

• Municipal managers Vs. the poor. The urban poor largely as aliens in the urban areas who should return to the rural areas to till the land.

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Infrastructure:

• Urban authorities are having difficulties building and maintaining their infrastructure partly due to the high cost of imported inputs but also due to bad styles of management and governance. (Lack of visionary leadership, corruption, inefficiency)

• The infrastructure that was left behind by the colonial masters has crumbled without building news ones.

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Decentralisation and urbanisation

• 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.

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Capacity building is more than just improving the skills and competencies of public officials.

“…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”.

Professor Akin Mobugunje, 1991

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Establishing a shared vision, unity of purpose and goals

“It does not help to train individuals when the 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 management systems when the basic organisational attitude is one which rejects learning.”

Deborah Eade (2001)

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Removing obstacles

“Capacity building is not only growth and expansion. It is also about removing obstacles (such as outdated bye-laws) and altering processes, approaches, and attitudes”.

Kim Forss and Pelenomi Venson, 1999

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Regional Perspectives on Capacity Building

• Institution Capacity Building was considered critical to galvanizing transformations

• Use of young expatriates and aid workers was introduced as a cheap strategy and mechanism for establishing required capacity in place

• Scholarship were provided to enable young professionals to study abroad to acquire not only knowledge but also the right attitudes and work culture

• The institutional capacity building was welcome but had clear flaws

• Wide spread poverty and the social costs of economic structural adjustment forced governments and donors to review capacity of institutions to alleviate poverty

• 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

• Addressing attitudes and behaviors was considered critical in moving decentralisation forward

• Establish honest behaviour and government is key to sustainable capacity building

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Regional Perspectives on Capacity Building

• Broadening participation in municipal governance enhances the capacity of municipal governance to incorporate the demand side in decision making

• Given the complexity of urban issues, it is vital to promote a multi-disciplinary approach to capacity building for sustainable urban development

• Promoting civic participation in municipal governance means promoting productive working relations between those who govern and those who are governed

• Private Sector involvement is needed to enhance efficiency in service delivery• Understanding Central-Local Relations is a necessary condition for enhancing

municipal capacity to undertake the decentralised functions• Building and Improving Municipal Financial Capacity is key to successful

democratic decentralisation• Civic education is a significant input to empowering citizens and an effect way

of counteracting the culture of socio-political apathy• Every individual no matter whatever level need to be capacitated to better

address challenges facing municipal government • The media need to be introduced to local government to facilitate public

education

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Institutional Capacity Building Approach early 1980s

The focus was on:

• Reviewing and adjusting internal organisational structures and systems

• Emphasising lean and flat organisations. • Rehabilitation of institutions such as universities,

roads, or building new facilities all together. • Use of young expatriates and aid workers to cover

capacity gaps• Providing scholarships for young professionals to

study abroad

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Shortfalls in the Institutional Capacity Building Approach

• Interventions tended to be supply, donor and expatdriven.• There was no meaningful beneficiary participation • There was no appreciation of corporate governance, shared

vision, values and principles, transparency, accountability, honesty and integrity.

• Government departments were not sufficiently prepared to take lead in promoting public administration reforms.

• There was shortage of skilled/ motivated manpower to manage/rehabilitated or newly established institutions.

• Lack of capacity for sector policy analysis, project design, management, monitoring and evaluation

• Governments responded by importing expatriates from all over the world mainly from their former colonial masters.

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Capacity building for poverty reduction

• The design and management of poverty alleviation programs and projects

• Systematic analysis of issues related to poverty• Facilitating exchange of experiences and innovative

practices on how local authorities are addressing the issue of poverty and its manifestations

• Strengthen the capacity of central and local government and NGOs to formulate and implement sector policies, programs and projects which would contribute to sustained reduction of poverty.

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DecentralisationTowards the end of 1980s, there was a clear policyshift which:

• Promoted decentralising/devolving powers and responsibilities to local government,

• Called for establishment of good governance with emphasis on accountability, transparency, and integrity;

• Promoted democratic governance; • Called for meaningful community participation and the

principle of subsidiarity, and • Called 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;

• Emphasized capacity building for capacity building.

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Understanding Decentralisation

It emerged that decentralisation is: • a multi-faceted complex political process and required a multi-

sectoral approach, which includes intensive coordination of various government ministries/ departments.

• a complex process involving political, fiscal, and administrative considerations

• supposed to take different forms including devolution, deconcentration, delegation or privatization of services of government.

• Subject to conflicting interests e.g politicians, traditionalists, donors

• not a sufficient condition to guarantee poverty reduction and economic growth.

It requires a human resources base that understands the complexity ofthe challenges.

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Addressing attitudes: Reflection of Mr. Kingunge Ngombale-

Mwiru Minister of Local Government, Tanzania “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 benefits which go with decentralisation and empowerment, so that they will own and cherish the process”.

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Establishing Local Integrity Systems• Col. Max Ngandwe, former President of IULA and Mayor of Kabwe

Municipal Councils in Zambia once said “...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”.

• Studies in Eastern and Southern Africa have revealed no matter how small the level of corruption, the practice results 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.

• There is therefore need to (a) raise awareness of the effects of corruption with regard to services delivery; (b) promoting service delivery surveys (c) empower various pillars of local government through workshops and seminars; (d) develop leadership codes of conduct; (v) develop clear public procurement processes which are understandable, transparent, open, competitive, and fair; and (vi) promote development of charters for building integrity

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Promoting civic participation

• There is 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

• It is a mechanism and for empowering local communities to know their rights and obligations

• It enables municipal officials to gain skills (political, administrative, community relations) to better manage and facilitate the involvement of non-state actors in local governance.

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Private Involvement: With the changes taking place, local managers need to be capacitated to know how to:

• establish an enabling environment and conditions for private sector involvement,

• become enablers rather than controllers regulate competition

• promote fair public-private partnerships • apply sound negotiation skills • handle tendering and contracting• prepare feasibility studies • prepare and manage service contracts • pricing and administer cost recovery • handle labour issues • evaluate performance

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Improving Intergovernmental Relations and Municipal Finance

Local governments need to be capacitated to put in place sound financial management particularly in handling revenue sources and expenditures. The following measures, amongst others, should be considered in building capacity:

• Clear and 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

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Multi-disciplinary Approach

• Given the complexity of urban issues, it is vital to promote a multi-disciplinary approach to capacity building for sustainable urban development.

• Unfortunately, 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.

• capacity building based on multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral approach to city / municipal development and management should be promoted.

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Action-based Policy Research

• 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.

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Civic Education Apathy is manifested in attitudes of:

• Despair and depression

• Non-involvement of people in important issues that affect their societies,

• Lack of interest in public affairs,

• Resignation to hopelessness.

Considering the dynamics of transformation, there is need for civic and voter 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 development.

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Everyone needs to be capacitated (examples)Mayors need to know how to:

• engage residents in municipal affairs meaningfully, • improve the resource base for their local authority, • to prepare strategic plans, • attract investors, • establish enabling policy and institutional environments, • guard against corruption, • handle street vendors, • engage the private sector, • commercialise or set rates for municipal services, • play a meaningful role in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS • respond to the needs of AIDS victims, • protect the environment, • protect children and women against abuse and violence, • deal with street children.

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Others

• Donors and Development Partners: need capacity for them to better understand and appreciate local values and intelligence of their counterparts to avoid white elephants.

• Citizens: Citizens’ participation, especially the poor need to know how to participate decision making and planning processes, and how to demand quality services, and hold local officials accountable. They also need to know how to leave in cities as responsible citizens.

• Chief Officers: need to have the capacity to work in an integrated fashion.

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Perspectives on Training Institutions and Trainers

• Training Institutions and Trainers lacked adequate orientation to effectively participate in strengthening the capacity of urban 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

• 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 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

• Most of the training programmes are supply-driven• Many training institutions lack relevancy to their constituencies

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Lessons Learnt• National and local training 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 governments supported by the central government and with paid up members are helpful and instrumental in capacity building especially in identifying training needs as well as designing and delivering training programmes that respond to local needs.

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Lessons Learnt• Reference and advising municipalities, through

decentralised cooperation and twining, can be identified and given chance to assist those municipalities in need of help

• Using modern technology (videoconferencing and digital radio) can result into low cost expanded outreach for capacity building programs in local government and is an effective vehicle for knowledge sharing.

• Action based research should be an integral part of capacity building to improve policy formulation and analysis

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Conclusions

• 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

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Conclusions

• 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.