Ministries dragging feet on decentralisation process

ONLY eight Government ministries have so far submitted their decentralisation action plans to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing’s Directorate of Decentralisation, says a new research paper on progress and impediments facing the implementation of the policy.

The paper, ‘Regional Councils and Decentralisation: At The Crossroads’, was launched in Windhoek yesterday. It says a lack of co-operation from ministries is one of the main reasons for the slow implementation of decentralisation.Although the Decentralisation Enabling Act was introduced five years ago, no function of central Government has been decentralised in the manner envisaged by the Act, says the paper.Regional Councils have now been in existence for 12 years while the decentralisation policy was launched seven years ago.While it would be unfair to assume that nothing has happened since 2000, says the paper, the only significant achievement in implementing the policy so far was the expansion last year of Regional Council staff complements in anticipation of the transfer of central Government functions.It says the slowness of Ministries to respond can be ascribed to two factors.One is the long-standing scepticism among some Ministers and top officials about the whole project, which requires them to cede their powers to another agency.The other is that the Ministry of Local Government and Housing does not possess special powers to compel other ministries to comply with Cabinet decisions such as this.It is believed that Regional Councils would better deal with decentralisation, as they are the only bodies that have representatives directly elected by constituents.”But this closeness will not have a significant impact unless Regional Councils have structures that reach the grassroots and the power to effect improvements for local communities,” says the paper.As such, it continues, it would seem the decentralisation of functions and power was necessary, if only to give a greater degree of legitimacy to Namibian system of regional governance.However, the paper argues that there are still potential threats that could undermine the case for decentralisation to Regional Councils, because while it has been urged that in the long run the decentralisation of functions to sub-national levels will be cost effective, for the moment the process was a costly one for central Government.CROSSROADS In the 2004-2005 Budget an amount of N$141,9 million was allocated as subsidy to the regions, which is a massive increase over the N$20 million appropriated in the 2003-2004 budget.”With revenue forecasts down and President Hifikepunye Pohamba declaring war on wasteful spending, it is inevitable that the subsidies to Regional Councils will come under closer scrutiny,” says the paper.It continues that if Regional Councils are to be found having poor financial accountability and ineffective service delivery outputs, the argument for meaningful decentralisation would be weakened.The paper said in the absence of political figures who will keep decentralisation in the forefront of policy implementers’ minds, it may well be left to Regional Councils themselves to do much of the running by calling for functions to be regionalised and demonstrating they have the capability to deal with it.The paper foresees that the next five years could see the status of Regional Councils enhanced through gradual transfer of central Government functions, which could in turn improve grassroots participation and service delivery.However, the process could also become bogged down with little decentralisation taking place and as a result, the credibility of the purpose of Regional Councils would be brought into question.Another scenario could be that functions are delegated but the process is then undermined by Regional Councils not being efficient and effective.”If that happens, the devolution stage of decentralisation would be delayed indefinitely,” says the paper.It suggests that Regional Councils should articulate their own case for decentralisation in a more forceful way, and demonstrate their financial accountability if they want the devolution stage of decentralisation to proceed.The National Council also needs to do more to promote debate about development in the regions.* The document was produced by political researcher and former journalist Graham Hopwood.It says a lack of co-operation from ministries is one of the main reasons for the slow implementation of decentralisation.Although the Decentralisation Enabling Act was introduced five years ago, no function of central Government has been decentralised in the manner envisaged by the Act, says the paper.Regional Councils have now been in existence for 12 years while the decentralisation policy was launched seven years ago.While it would be unfair to assume that nothing has happened since 2000, says the paper, the only significant achievement in implementing the policy so far was the expansion last year of Regional Council staff complements in anticipation of the transfer of central Government functions.It says the slowness of Ministries to respond can be ascribed to two factors.One is the long-standing scepticism among some Ministers and top officials about the whole project, which requires them to cede their powers to another agency.The other is that the Ministry of Local Government and Housing does not possess special powers to compel other ministries to comply with Cabinet decisions such as this.It is believed that Regional Councils would better deal with decentralisation, as they are the only bodies that have representatives directly elected by constituents.”But this closeness will not have a significant impact unless Regional Councils have structures that reach the grassroots and the power to effect improvements for local communities,” says the paper.As such, it continues, it would seem the decentralisation of functions and power was necessary, if only to give a greater degree of legitimacy to Namibian system of regional governance.However, the paper argues that there are still potential threats that could undermine the case for decentralisation to Regional Councils, because while it has been urged that in the long run the decentralisation of functions to sub-national levels will be cost effective, for the moment the process was a costly one for central Government.CROSSROADS In the 2004-2005 Budget an amount of N$141,9 million was allocated as subsidy to the regions, which is a massive increase over the N$20 million appropriated in the 2003-2004 budget.”With revenue forecasts down and President Hifikepunye Pohamba declaring war on wasteful spending, it is inevitable that the subsidies to Regional Councils will come under closer scrutiny,” says the paper.It continues that if Regional Councils are to be found having poor financial accountability and ineffective service delivery outputs, the argument for meaningful decentralisation would be weakened.The paper said in the absence of political figures who will keep decentralisation in the forefront of policy implementers’ minds, it may well be left to Regional Councils themselves to do much of the running by calling for functions to be regionalised and demonstrating they have the capability to deal with it.The paper foresees that the next five years could see the status of Regional Councils enhanced through gradual transfer of central Government functions, which could in turn improve grassroots participation and service delivery.However, the process could also become bogged down with little decentralisation taking place and as a result, the credibility of the purpose of Regional Councils would be brought into question.Another scenario could be that functions are delegated but the process is then undermined by Regional Councils not being efficient and effective.”If that happens, the devolution stage of decentralisation would be delayed indefinitely,” says the paper. It suggests that Regional Councils should articulate their own case for decentralisation in a more forceful way, and demonstrate their financial accountability if they want the devolution stage of decen
tralisation to proceed.The National Council also needs to do more to promote debate about development in the regions.* The document was produced by political researcher and former journalist Graham Hopwood.