Progress in Good Governance since
the Social Summit
(ECA)
East and
Southern Africa Subregional Follow-up Conference to the World Social Summit
15-17 March, 1999 Nairobi, Kenya
Table of Content
II. Good governance: A Selective Review
1. Since the early 1990, Africa has been experiencing a major ground swell of political change with the people of the continent taking resolute steps to demand participatory and democratic systems of governance. After being gripped by serious crisis of governance for much of their post-independence history, nearly all African countries have recently begun to initiate radical political and institutional changes. While a number of countries are still going through a period of civil strife and armed confrontation, it has become increasingly apparent that the region as a whole is engaged in searching for appropriate ways and means of establishing democratic political foundation and the necessary environment for the promotion of good governance. Tremendous efforts are being made to create more open pluralist and participatory political orders and to develop effective, transparent accountable and responsive institutions of governance.
2. Governance is generally defined as the use of political, economic and administrative authority and resources to manage a nation’s affairs. On the basis of this, good governance could be taken to refer to the efficient and effective management of public resources and problems in dealing with the critical needs of the society. Good governance and sound public sector management constitute the major mechanisms of social transformation and the cornerstones of successful economies. Although the private sector and civil society are engaged in important aspects of governance, it is the institutions of the state, which define the political rules for the overall management of a country and its affairs. The role of governance in creating enabling environment for its citizens, establishing law and order, managing macro economic stability, building physical and financial infrastructure, delivering essential services and protecting the vulnerable is critically important for peace, stability and economic prosperity. In fact, the need for capable, effective and efficient system of governance has never been stronger than today where the world is characterized by increased economic globalization and highly complex and competitive environment.
3. This paper attempts to assess progress towards achieving good governance in the Eastern and Southern Africa subregion since the World Summit for Social Development in 1995. The Summit had noted that public mismanagement, governmental inefficiency, erratic and corrupt official practices and breakdown in the administration of justice and political instability as major causes of the continent’s economic and social predicament. It had identified the quest for good governance as the most formidable challenge facing Africa and urged all concerned to find ways and means of reversing the trend towards declining governability and institutional decay. Acknowledging past errors, African leaders and their partners at the summit, have resolved to make governance apparatus operate better and efficiently and to create and reorganize institutional structures to support and facilitate the core public activities that are crucial to sustained economic and social development.
4. In reporting about the progress made in the search for good governance in the subregion, it is helpful to identify a number of generally agreed upon sign posts or indicators that define the core elements of the governance issue. In doing this, it must be realized that the process of selecting indicators to measure good governance is fraught with difficulties. Conceptually, it is almost impossible to reduce the complex social, cultural, political, legal, economic and other interactions that make up a modern society to a few indicators that measure good governance. Also, there is a wide range of views about what constitutes good governance, some important aspects of which are culturally determined. Given this complexity, the only viable alternative is to identify a minimum core of characteristics of good governance that are least controversial and may be taken to represent the consensus of the international community of nations. In the following, we identify a cluster of indicators and outline what needs to be monitored at the core minimum to establish progress towards good governance. Also, it is important to note that the concept of governance comprises two distinct but inextricably intertwined dimensions. One is political and relates to the commitment of the system to participation, equity and legitimacy. The other is technical and relates to issues of efficiency of the public management system. In the selection of indicators, we have attempted to strike a balance between these two dimensions of governance.
5. Among these indicators are: -
6. The second section examines the experience of countries in the subregion and assess the progress made in achieving the various elements of good governance identified in the first part. The third part considers appropriate strategies for achieving the most important elements of good governments within the context of the initiatives of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. In its renewed effort to serve Africa better, and in its capacity as the co-lead agency of the governance component of the UN Special Initiative on Africa, the UNECA has recommitted itself to help strengthen government capabilities and effectiveness and to consolidate institutions and practices of good governance.
II. Good governance: A Selective Review
7. Before proceeding to analyze efforts being made to establish and consolidate democratic principles and good governance practices, it is important to highlight the peace and security situation of the sub region in recent years. Assessment of the security and peace context allows us to understand the painful difficulties and sever challenges these countries face in their attempt to achieve improved governance.
8. The period since the holding of the Social summit turned out to be rather disastrous and disillusioning for the subregion in terms of peace and security. The Ethiopia - Eritrea axis, which had underpinned the hopes for a new regional peace and security order in the Horn of Africa, has fallen apart. As we speak, the two countries are engaged in a very brutal and destructive war, which threatens to set the entire region in a continuos conflictual path. Somalia continues to descend into an appalling anarchy and chaos that is tearing apart its social fabric to such a degree that the very idea of organized society is jeoparadized. The Democratic Republic of Congo after successfully toppling of a dictatorial regime, has entered yet another cycle of violence, and a new round of civil war is set in train in which no fewer than ten neighbouring countries despatched troops to serve on one side or the other. The never-ending civil war in Angola has broken out once again. Active insurrections, by one group or another, continue to rage in more than half of the countries of the subregion. Thus , of the estimated population of 350 million in the sub region, over 50% (180 million) are currently suffering for lack of peace and security.
9. As a result of these conflicts ordinary Africans look the drastic democratic option of voting with their feet thus creating a huge refugee problem. According to UNHCR the sub region accounts for at least two million refugees and unacceptable proportion all war- related deaths in the world. In short, an arc of instability and conflicts which extends from the Horn of Africa, down through the Great Lakes region into Southern Africa, haunts the subregion with continuous conflict and potentially devastating bloodshed.
10. There is little doubt that these conflicts have had and continue to have extreme adverse effect on the countries’ of the subregion’s effort to establish and consolidate practices of good governance. Nearly all of the countries had to contend with violence and conflict and were preoccupied with peace and security issues. None had a chance to pursue the good governance agenda over a period of sustained peace. To the extent any of them enjoyed internal peace it was always overshadowed by threat of war and conflict. It is apparent that without peace and security, no amount of effort will secure democracy, the rule of law and good governance. Unless the subregion manages to transcend these tragic legacies and achieve peace and normalization, real progress in the area of governance can neither be established nor sustained.
11. While the post 1995 years have been marked by a period of bitter disillusion for peace and security in the sub region, there have also been some hopeful signs of countries striving to establish firm political foundations and the necessary environment for the promotion of good governance. Although the degree of commitment and the speed of change have varied from one country to another, the movement towards good governance, both in its technical and political dimensions, has been the general trend.
12. Political achievements of the early 1990s are, for the most part, maintained and even more consolidated as some countries underwent multi-party elections, adopted new constitutions and legalized opposition political activities. Kenya, Malawi, Ethiopia, South Africa among others have successfully consolidated the achievements of the early 1990s as they adopted new constitutions and held contested multi-party elections. Botswana, Mauritius and Tanzania continue to enjoy open, accountable and competitive multi-party democratic forms of governments. In so far as human rights violations are concerned countries such as Uganda, Namibia, Mozambique and Malawi have demonstrated significant improvements with the rule of law and civil liberties steadily gaining ground.
13. Along with these political changes, countries in the sub region are undertaking serious rethinking on such challenging issues as the appropriate scope and role of the state and how to make it play its assigned role better; the need to nurture the private sector; and that civil society should be fostered and encouraged to facilitate citizen’s participation in the economy and polity. Acknowledging past errors, they have reduced the size and role of governments and are striving to create and reorganize institutional structures and governance apparatus. For years now, public discourse on governance are held mainly in terms of deregulation, liberalization, downsizing of bloated bureaucracy and abolishing inefficient institutions.
14. Many governments in the sub region have recognized the deficiencies afflicting operations of public sector agencies and the need to take appropriate measures to make them more responsive to their nations’ developmental needs. Public sector management interventions, including downsizing of bureaucracy, cost containment, tighter financial control systems; improvement of management skills and other organizational reform measures have been implemented in many countries (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania). The rationalization exercises, which many countries implemented in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, have resulted in abolishing of many public agencies, amalgamation of functions and reduction of the size of civil services (Ethiopia, Mozambique and Zambia). To deal with corruption and raise professional ethics in the public sector, governments have initiated reform measures such as review and adjustment of compensation package for employee, merit-based recruitment and promotion, establishment of public assistance and complaint services and continuous technical and management training of staff. There is very active and on going campaigns by governments, donor agencies and civil society groups to promote the values of integrity, transparency and accountability in public affairs and to fight against corruption, bureaucratic red tape, and other practices that are contrary to the public interest (Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania). Moreover, these governments are striving to build capacity in policy analysis and review, in performance evaluation and monitoring, strategic planning and management and modern information management system. Uganda, Tanzania, Namibia).
15. In addition to the effort being made to fashion a capable developmental state by reforming the public management system, there is a parallel movement towards popular participation and the empowerment of civil society. For many decades ordinary citizen-powerless and disillusioned in the face of economic decline and tyranny-have turned their backs on the basic workings of their state. Yet their failure to participate in civic life has only worked to speed the subregion political and economic decline and worsen the lot of its citizens. It is now widely accepted that quest for democracy and the good governance campaign cannot be sustained without broad popular support and the dedication and hard work of all citizens.
16. This essential fact of development was formally recognized at the 1990 International Conference on Popular Participation in the Recovery and Development of Africa. At that Conference, representatives of African governments and civil society, the United Nations System, and the international development community at-large came together to issue the African Charter for Popular Participation in Development. Affirming that economic development requires institutional pluralism and broad-based popular participation, the African Charter called for a new and more democratic order in Africa, in which restructured institutions give more power to the people.
17. Once issued, the 1990 African Charter received powerful political mandates at the national, regional and international levels. The same year it was proposed the Charter was formally adopted by heads of states and governments of all the subregion countries. The subregion countries virtually unanimous endorsement of the Charter for popular participation has placed the issue in the front burner of the subregions priority agenda on a permanent basis. More and more people are voting in local regional and national elections (S. Africa, Kenya Ethiopia) and there is a marked increase in people’s willingness to interface with institutions and processes of their countries. Thousands of new civic groups, people’s organizations and non-governmental agencies (NGOs), are springing up spontaneously all over the sub region; The programmes run by these groups, reaches into every facet of political and economic life. Organized and operated by representatives of local stakeholders, these institutions are often able to generate support and mobilize human and material resource that have hitherto gone largely untapped. South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, among others, have witnessed a new outcropping of indigenous civil society organizations.
18. More than a decade of political reform the subregion has fostered a new and growing awareness among policy-makers about the merits of increasing private-sector participation in the economy, with a corresponding reduction in the role of the state in the productive sector. This recognition—indeed consensus—that the private sector should take a lead role in economic development, with governments providing the enabling environment, has initiated considerable activities in reviving private investment and entrepreneurship in the sub region. Many of the countries in the sub region have clearly moved away from centrally planned economies towards economic system based on free market (Ethiopia, Mozambique,and Tanzania).
19. Recognizing the vast potential for private sector activities, countries have adopted policies designed to expand and diversify private sector activities and stimulate and sustain private investment, both domestic and foreign. Among the more important policy changes are; sound macro-economic policies, efficient economic infrastructure, laws that facilitate creation of private enterprise, effective and efficient capital markets, an agile investment promotion agencies, strong partnership between the public and private sector, and a supportive legal and regulatory framework for investment. (Kenya, Uganda, Mauritus)
20. In an attempt to create a more market and investor friendly climate, countries have substantially changed their investment codes and established investment promotion centres to serve as focal points for the promotion, co-ordination and support system of local and foreign investments. Large-scale state owned enterprises are being increasingly privatized and money-losing parastatals are restructured and liquidated. (Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia). Although uneven in the subregion as a whole, the scope of privatization of state owned enterprises has widened. Some countries have extended privatization to public infrastructure enterprises and many are using management contracts, leasing arrangement and various forms of concessions to transfer the management of public enterprises to the private sector.
21. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa has been in the forefront of the good governance debate, repeatedly pointing out the centrality of governance factors underlying the contemporary African predicament and stressing the intimate interrelationship between good governance and sustained economic development. While it may be true that mismanagement and inefficiency may be tackled by reducing the size and role of government, UNECA has maintained that reconstituted proactive, democratized developmental states that hold the best prospect for the subregion recovery and development. It continues to advocate that reversal of economic decline will require engaged and pro-active governments with improved capacity to formulate policies, mange essential services and endure public accountability and transparency.
22. In its renewed efforts to serve Africa better, and in its capacity as the lead agency of the governance component of the UN Special Initiative on Africa, The UNECA, has recommitted itself to help strengthen government capabilities and effectiveness and to the consolidation of institutions and practices of good governance. In consultation with it’s member states and working in partnership with leading regional agencies, it has initiated activities in such important areas as: public sector management reform; building enabling environment for enterprenership and private sector development; and promoting and strengthening civil society organizations.
23. UNECA in collaboration with UNDP, the World Bank, UNDESA and other sister agencies has organized over a dozen conferences and over two dozen workshops and seminars on the themes of good governance, popular participation, private sector development and public sector reform in the past four years. The importance attached, by ECA to issues of good governance is further heightened by the recent restructuring exercise of the organization in which good governance was identified as one of the five priority areas of its programme focus.
24. Working with regional institutions and other elements of the UN System, ECA has initiated extensive public management reform programme. The public sector reform programme focuses on; advising on restructuring of public service organizations; studying and proposing appropriate civil service remuneration systems; designing strategies to ensure ethics and accountability; improving service delivery systems; establishing mechanisms for the efficient collection of government revenues and setting up of research and analysis centres that monitor and assess public accountability and transparency. Staffed by highly skilled and specialized professionals, the programme provides prompt, innovative and flexible advice to requests from member countries for particular problematic tasks and help member governments construct coherent programme of reform measures and think through their short, medium and long term implications.
25. Recognizing the importance of strong and assertive civil society for sustaining democracy and good governance, ECA in collaboration with the African civil society community has established the African Centre for Civil Society. The Centre provides support services and capacity building assistance for indigenous civil society organization. Among the activities of the Centre are:-
26. In the area of private sector development, ECA’s programme focuses on:-
27. While promoting these basic and universal norms of good governance, ECA realizes that the supportive institutions and systems cannot be imported wholesale from outside. Rather, the impetus for governance reform must come from local initiatives, 3be firmly rooted in the custom and traditions of the society, tailored the unique situations of a particular country and flexible enough to respond to emerging opportunities. Experience confirms that reform and change can only succeed where key stakeholders are committed to making things better and have acquired ownership of the process through involvement in its design and implementation. As such ECA has limited its role to simply facilitating an agenda that is country driven and controlled by its member states.
28. From the above rather cursory survey of the major trends in governance in the East and Southern Africa regions, it is clear that countries of the region have expressed commitment to establishing durable governance institutions. The major challenge remains one pertaining to civil conflicts. The countries of the region are invited to deliberate on the following:-