Commonwealth Local Government Forum

East Africa \ Local democracy

This section contains information relating to all aspects of lcoal democracy and good governance at the local level. The Commonwealth principles on good practice for local democracy and good governance - known as the Aberdeen Agenda - which have been adopted by all CLGF members and are incorporated in the Commonwealth Charter, set the framework for the promotion of local democracy in the Commonwealth. The materials in this section relate to the constitutional and legal provisions for local government and include a range of studies, policy and training materials on local elections, leadership, community participation, representative local government, local government management and partnerships between local government and other key stakeholders such as traditional authorities.

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Decentralisation in developing countries: preconditions for successful implementation

Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance - Issue 15, June 2014 Decentralisation has been implemented and is being implemented in many developing countries without much success. Although several unique factors inhibit the implementation of decentralisation in individual countries, the paper argues that there are six pre-conditions that these countries should fulfill before decentralisation can be successfully implemented. These preconditions are: institutional mechanisms; creation of spaces for community participation; political will and civil will; capacity development at the local level; careful implementation; and democratic governance.

Author: Yasin Olum Publisher: CLGF/University of Technology, Sydney Publication year: 2015


Local democracy and public accountability in Uganda: the need for organisational learning

Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance - Issue 15, June 2014. The paper examines the impact of public accountability mechanisms in Uganda's decentralisation of local governments. Some of the common performance evaluation tools used for evaluation of local government performance are presented and discussed including the baraza, village participatory democracy and the score-card reporting method. The orthodox theories of local governance and concept of democracy are bases for assessing the feasibility of public accountability in Uganda. The paper concludes that popular control and political equality principles of democracy remain elusive in the Ugandan context. It suggests that, for improving public accountability, instead of increasingly using additional mechanisms of involving the masses, it is important to assess and learn from routines and experiences that emerge from organisational learning.

Author: Stella Kyohairwe Publisher: CLGF/University of Technology, Sydney Publication year: 2015


Local government system in Kenya

This profile of the local government system in Kenya is structured to enable easy comparison across the countries of the Commonwealth. The profile includes an overview of the government system, the legal basis for and structure of local government, elections and women’s representation, intergovernmental relations, systems for community involvement, organised local government, intergovernmental relations, monitoring systems, finance, staffing and resources, and distribution of service delivery responsibility. 

Author: CLGF Publisher: Publications UK Publication year: 2015


Local government system in Rwanda

This profile of the local government system in Rwanda is structured to enable easy comparison across the countries of the Commonwealth. The profile includes an overview of the government system, the legal basis for and structure of local government, elections and women’s representation, intergovernmental relations, systems for community involvement, organised local government, intergovernmental relations, monitoring systems, finance, staffing and resources, and distribution of service delivery responsibility. 

Author: CLGF Publisher: Publications UK Publication year: 2015


Local democracy today and tomorrow - learning from good practice

This paper provides an overview of key trends and developments impacting local democracy and is intended to be a broad-ranging background paper to assist in discussions at a workshop organised in November 2014, which brought together academics and practitioners to explore current trends and developments in local democracy. It should be noted that there is no single world view on what local democracy is and globally there are many different systems of local governance and democracy both within and between countries. A number of key areas which have impacted on local democracy and as identified by the authors include the impact of the global financial crisis, the effects of urbanisation, rising conflicts and protests, ways in which engagements occur, ensuring inclusivity and the need for a developmental approach to local governance. Lessons learnt and challenges include the effects of decentralisation, increased participation, building skills, ensuring openness and transparency and ensuring effective and efficient service delivery.

Author: CLGF Publisher: CLGF


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