Decentralization, Democracy, and Development

Transcription

1 A W O R L D B A N K C O U N T R Y S T U D Y Decentralization, Democracy, and Development Recent ExperiencefromSierra Leone Edited by Yongmei Zhou THE WORLD BANK Washington, D.C.

2 Foreword viii Editors and Contributors x Acknowledgments xii Abbreviations and Acronyms xiii Introduction...:..z.~. xv Yongmei Zhou Literature on Decentralization and Post-Conflict State-Building Brief Background on Sierra Leone Unfolding Sierra Leone's Decentralization in the Context of Post-Conflict State-Building Has Decentralization Improved Coverage and Quality of Primary Health, Agriculture, and Primary Education Services? Has Decentralization Energized Civic Participation in Local Governance? Sustainability Challenges in Sierra Leone Conclusions: What Have We Learned from Sierra Leone's Experience? Notes xv xvii xviii xxvi xxviii xxix xxx xxxii 1. Establishing the Legislative, Political, and Administrative Framework for Local Government and Decentralization in Sierra Leone 1 Emmanuel Gaima How the Decentralization Policy and Local Government Act 2004 Were Developed 1 Statutory Instrument and Timetable for Decentralization 3 Local Government Act 2004 and the Political Framework 4 Local Government Act 2004 and Other Laws (Complementarity and Contradictions) 6 Administrative Framework to Support Decentralization 7 Role of Institutional Reform and Capacity Building Project: World Bank Intervention Arguments and Process/Actors 9 Decentralization Program in Design 11 Notes Fiscal Decentralization: Building the Financial Capacity of Local Governments 15 Adams Sanpha Kargbo Hi

3 Legislative Base 15 Revenue Mobilization 16 Institutional Framework 18 Grants System 18 Local Government Development Grants Program 20 Size of Fiscal Transfers 22 Paying the Grants to Councils, 23 t Financial Management Capacity of the Councils 24 Achievements 25 Notes : Administrative Decentralization: Building the Non-Financial Capacity of Local Governments Alhassan Kanu Local Governance before Passage of Local Government Act Emergence of the New Local Councils 30 Planning for Capacity Building Prior to the Passage of Local Government Act Planning for Capacity Building after Passage of Local Government Act Providing and Developing Human Capacity 35 Role of Coaches in Capacity Building 42 Achievements in Infrastructure Capacity Development 42 Development of Local Council Administrative and Governance Capacity 43 Critical Challenges to Capacity Building for Local Governance 53 Future Possible Changes to Capacity Development 56 Conclusion 58 Notes, Decentralization in Practice 60 Katherine Whiteside Casey Overview: Motivating Hypotheses and the Size of the Pie 60 Devolution of Healthcare 62 Devolution of Agricultural Services 64 Devolution of Education 66 Reasons for Differential Progress across Sectors 68 Likely Areas of Decentralization Impacts 70 Notes 71

4 5. Impact of Decentralization on Public Services: Evidence to Date 73 Elizabeth Foster and Rachel Glennester How Might Decentralization Be Predicted to Impact Services? 73 Data 74 Testable Hypotheses 75 Outcomes: Public Service Quality Has Improved across Most Sectors 76 Areas with Initially Low Levels of Service Have Experienced Catch-up in Some Sectors 80 Are Providers or Households Turning to Local Councils When They Have Problems with Services? 83 Conclusion 83 Notes :.' Civic Engagement in Local Governance 85 Yongmei Zhou and Ye Zhang Political Motivation of Decentralization and Electoral Outcome of 2004 Local Council Elections 85 Fiscal Decentralization as a Policy Choice to Improve Effectiveness of Public Spending 87 Has Decentralization Brought Government to the Doorsteps of the Rural Masses? 87 Have People Felt the Presence of the Local Councils? 91 Civic Activism at the Grassroots 97 Are the People Disciplining Their Representatives via Elections? 99 Conclusions 104 Annex 6.1. Figures from Chapter Notes Landscape of Local Authority in Sierra Leone: How "Traditional" and "Modern" Justice and Governance Systems Interact 110 Ryann Elizabeth Manning Research Methodology Mapping Local Authority Structures in Sierra Leone 112 Observations on Sources of Authority in Sierra Leone 117 Local Councils' Interactions with Other Authority Structures 121 Conclusions and Recommendations: Complex, Mixed System of Local Governance Is Here to Stay 127 Notes 129 Ill

5 8. Reflections and Conclusions on Positives and Problems Resulting from Devolution to Date 138 Emmanuel Gaima Appendix: IRCBP Evaluations Unit: Overview of Surveys 144 References 147 Tables Table 1. Deviations of Actual Spending from^budget Allocations, (%) xxvi Table 3.1. Compliance with Minimum Conditions and Scores on Performance Measures 46 Table 3.2. LGDG Performance Incentive Grant Distribution Scale 47 Table 3.3. LGDG Performance Incentive Grant by Local Council 48 Table 3.4. Status of Accounts and Audit, 2005 and Table 3.5. Local Council Revenue Estimate and Collection, Table 4.1. Statutory Timetable for Transfer of Health Sector Functions and the Date of First Fiscal Transfer 62 Table 4.2. Statutory Timetable for Transfer of Agriculture Sector Functions and the First Year of Fiscal Transfer 65 Table 4.3. Statutory Timetable for Transfer of Education Sector Functions and Date of First Fiscal Transfer 67 Table 5.1. Access and Quality of Public Services, (%) 76 Table 5.2. Does Greater Sector Decentralization Correlate with Greater Public Service Improvement? 77 Table 5.3..Correlation between Improved Services and Changes in Distance to Power (%) 81 Table 5.4. Supervision Visits to Clinics, (%) 83 Table 6.1. Sierra Leone's Many Isolated Communities 88 Table 6.2. Correlations between November 2006 Local Council Management Performance Measures and June 2007 Average Citizen Perception of Council and Councilor 93 Table 6.3. Public Perception of Central Government and Local Council: Changes from (%) 94 Table 6.4. Perception of Central Government and Local Councils among Those Who Have More Interactions with Local Councils (%) 94 Table 6.5. First Most Important Reason for Choosing to Vote by Local Council 103 Table 6.6. Reasons to Reelect or Replace Local Councilors: Views of Opinion Leaders (%) 104 Figures Figure 1. Initial Phase of IRCBP: Generating a Virtuous Cycle of Local Government Improvement xxii