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Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (LEAT) leat@mediapost.co.tz |
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2.3 Decentralization Process (1983 - 1998)With the abolition of local government system in early 1970s several analysts attribute the re-introduction of local government in 1980s to bad administration and mismanagement during the 1972-1982 periods. Perhaps, it is also due to the inability of the decentralized structures introduced in early 1970s to deliver goods. Many analysts would attribute the re- introduction of local government in 1980 to the rapid decline in essential services due to the economic crisis of the late seventies and eighties. Again in 1982, the local governments were re-established to enhance and affectively decentralize the government administration. This was done by facilitating more effective democratic participation in decision making and implementation at the village, district and regional levels (Max 1991:143) During the general elections of 1980, the ruling party, namely Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), promised to re-introduce local governments in Tanzania. After the election, the party directed the government to implement the policy of re-introduction of local government through the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). Soon thereafter, the PMO appointed a committee of seven experts, which by April 1981 submitted its report to the PMO; and then local government bill was prepared and submitted to the parliament in the same year. Accordingly, the National Assembly enacted the following Local Government Acts in April 1982:
According to Max, the significant change worth noting is the amendment of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania (URT) through Act No. 15 of 1984 which had the effect of making the existence of local government authorities constitutionally sanctioned. Decentralization in the 1990s must be viewed in light of economic, social and political changes that took place in Tanzania by then. The introduction of Bill of Rights (in 1985) and multi-party democracy (in 1992) in the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977, expanded the potential space for the respect for human rights, basic freedoms, rule of law, political transparency and good governance. The twin process of reforming the civil service (central government) and the local authorities in Tanzania have had the effect of the former devolving more authorities to the latter. Accordingly, the institutions under local authorities have been designated as the providers and producers of most social services and goods in the new setting. The reform involves decentralization of public service delivery linked to devolution of political powers to lower levels as far as possible and feasible. The decentralization policy is enacted through the Regional Administration Act (1997) which effectively initiated the decentralization process by scaling down the roles, functions and staffing at the regional level. According to the Act, urban and district authorities are allowed to interact directly with the central government ministries on issues of concern and interest in their areas of jurisdiction. They can work with other organizations located within their respective areas and with NGOs. Some key structural elements are supposed to appear in each and every local government. As far as the environment is concerned, the Act No.6 of 1999 which amended the Local Government (District Authorities) Act of 1982], establishes three standing committees, one of which is the Economic Affairs, Works and Environment Committee. It also amends the Local Government (Urban Authorities) Act of 1982 to establish three Standing Committees one of which is the Urban Planning and Environment Committee. More importantly, district authority duties have been explicitly laid out with regard to the environment. It states that, "it shall be the objective of the local authorities in performing their functions to provide for the protection and proper utilization of the environment for sustainable development."1 Likewise, the objectives and functions of urban authorities have been reformulated as " to take necessary measures to protect and enhance the environment in order to promote sustainable development."2 In the late 1990s the Government of Tanzania introduced the Local Government Reform Programme. According to the Local Government Reform Programme Report (1999) the main objective of the reform is to "…improve the quality of and the access of public services provided through or facilitated by local government authorities."3 It further states that the goal will be achieved through the reorganization programme and will have two components:
A major assumption of the reform programme is that by transferring responsibilities of managing funds and personnel from the central government to the district councils, delivery of social services will improve. It is also assumed that by making the district councils directly responsible for self financed service provision, the councils will be more active in mobilizing local resources in order to finance their programmes. Therefore, the main goal of the reform programme is to increase the local communities accountability and responsibility for their own development. This can be achieved through the devolution of process to the local authorities like:
The above components emphasize decentralization and facilitate the implementation of the local government reform programme in the main phases of the decentralization process though sometimes overlap.
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