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[ Back to Volume15 #1-2 Table of Contents ] [ back to Africa Recovery home ] [ Email this article ] From Africa Recovery, Vol.15 #1-2, page 33 Senegal experiments with decentralization Senegal's new constitution, approved overwhelmingly by voters at the beginning of the year, affirms that elected local government bodies will "constitute the institutional framework for citizens' participation in the management of public affairs." Precisely how to do that has been a matter of some debate, however. Both the government of President Abdoulaye Wade and the National Assembly, newly elected in late April, are discussing various proposals to reform municipal and rural government. Previous decentralization initiatives had very mixed results. Elected municipal councils were first introduced under French colonial rule, and then developed further after independence in 1960. Generally, the national government ceded only limited authority to these councils, and most lacked the revenue to accomplish even the few tasks assigned to them. In Rufisque-East, part of metropolitan Dakar, the municipal council has been relatively effective, steadily increasing its revenues from local taxes, fees and tariffs, in conjunction with a policy of actively encouraging community organizations to manage local projects. But in the southern town of Kolda, electrical power was cut off in January because the council could not pay its power bills. In Khombole, Dahra and many other municipalities, residents have staged public protests against serious mismanagement, shady real estate deals and corruption. Patronage politics has made things worse. In 1996 the former ruling party created 43 "communes" in Dakar, with many of the posts going to party loyalists who had failed to secure more prestigious positions in the national administration. A wave of scandals resulted, involving irregular housing allocations, embezzlement, favouritism and what a former housing minister referred to as a system of "grand-scale, organized pillage." Public anger mounted, especially as conditions worsened for many ordinary Senegalese. Between 1992 and 1997, the percentage of urban households below the poverty line rose from 30 per cent to 35 per cent. This disgruntlement helped Mr. Wade win the March 2000 presidential election with the backing of a broad opposition coalition. Soon, many local mayors were dismissed as financial audits exposed more of their misdeeds. In July 2000 the new government simply dissolved the heavily indebted Communauté urbaine de Dakar, a super municipal structure that had included the capital and four adjoining municipalities. Since then, responsibility for water services, trash collection and other tasks has devolved to the local councils. Before new municipal councils and mayors are elected in November 2001, the central government and legislature will seek further reforms. The overall goals will be to make the councils more transparent and responsive to citizens' concerns, limit the scope for corruption, bolster their revenues and give them greater spending authority. The ultimate aim, states former Minister of Decentralization Khady Fall Diallo, is to "stimulate development at the grassroots." Related articles: [ Back to Volume15 #1-2 Table of Contents ] [ back to Africa Recovery home ] [ Email this article ] [ New Releases ] [ Magazine - Current/Past issues ] [ Index / Search ] [ About us ] [ UN Home ] [ UN News ] [ UN Key Reports ] [ UN Africa Links ] Material from this article may be freely reproduced, with
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