Good governance and the new local government system in Malawi: challenges and prospects

D.Phil.The overall objective of this study is to evaluate the new local government system in Malawi, and to determine the extent to which decentralised political and administrative structures uphold the principles of good governance. With the requirements of good governance in mind, the issues addressed include the legal and institutional framework, the factors that affect the performance by local institutions, and the broader political and socio-economic factors that complicate the promotion of principles of good governance at the local level. The study is based on an analysis of primary and secondary sources relating to local government in Malawi and selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It is supplemented by semi-structured qualitative interviews involving 38 respondents. The respondents included senior government officials, elected representatives and members of the civil society concerned with the promotion of the principles of good governance. The researcher also attended committee meetings in selected local authorities to obtain insights for the assessment of the new local government system. The major findings of this study are grouped into three broad categories. Firstly, although the legal and institutional framework tends to support the promotion of good governance on paper, it does not give any effect in practice. This is due to, among other factors, the legal provisions which are contradictory and entrench centralisation, and the inherent procedural weaknesses which are evident in the glaring omissions relating to procedures governing local authorities’ meetings, revenue collection and discipline. Secondly, a number of factors hamper the effective promotion of good governance by institutions both at the central and local levels. These include the weak institutional and resource constraints, ineffective civic education, high poverty levels, low literacy levels and negative public attitude towards government institutions and politics in general. Lastly, the effective promotion of the principles of good governance is complicated by the broader political and socio-economic factors such as the weak role of political parties, the presence of patrimonial behaviour, the lack of democratic political culture, the ineffective public sector reform, the deterioration of the economy, weak role of civil society organisations and their lack of vibrancy. In view of the study findings, it is recommended that the legal framework should be reviewed to amend contradictory provisions, and to incorporate provisions which enforce good governance at the local level. The major stakeholders in governance should embark on various capacity building measures such as holding public meetings, workshops, and curricula development to empower all sectors, particularly the rural masses in order to enable them to articulate their interests, to hold rulers accountable, and to reinforce desirable democratic values. With economic renewal in mind, the government should develop a coherent policy framework to encourage local investment in small and medium enterprises, and to guide the country towards self-reliance and food sufficiency. The government should also introduce country-wide irrigation schemes and intensify crop production, expand the tourism and the mining sectors, and adopt a fundamental land reform to restructure the unequal land distribution.Prof. Yolanda Sadi