Meeting the requirements of a new localism, local government in sub-Saharan Africa, the case of Uganda and Zimbabwe

grantor: University of TorontoThe globalization of the economy and its accompanying restructuring has not only called into question the role of national governments but also has spawned a greater interest and focus on urban local governments as they grapple with the local consequences of these processes. In both developed and developing countries the focus is on new strategies and new policy arrangements that include non-governmental actors in 'the new localism'. While structural adjustment has reduced the role of the central government in sub-Saharan Africa, one might ask what relevance the new localism has in a part of the world where urban local governments have little autonomy, fewer resources and a poor record of delivery. However, this thesis argues that there is a case for a historically specific new localism in sub-Saharan Africa. Historically, colonial powers in sub-Saharan Africa created a bifurcated state in which they used local government as the linchpin for controlling the African population in what Mahmood Mamdani has termed a decentralized despotism. Mamdani argues that one of the political challenges for African governments is to create democratic openings at the local level in order to re-engage society and break the constellation of power, characterized by patronage politics, which stems from the bifurcated state form. Using historical material from Uganda and Zimbabwe, this thesis develops some historically specific requirements for a new localism. Empirical evidence, obtained from fieldwork conducted in two municipalities in Uganda and Zimbabwe, provides a comparison of decentralization programmes and their impact at the local level, in theory and practice--and an analysis of the possibilities of meeting the political challenges of developing a new localism. This thesis argues that, put to the test of meeting the requirements of a new localism, a comparison between Jinja and Mutare reveals that Uganda has gone some way to meet those requirements while Zimbabwe has not.Ph.D