Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...
Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...
Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Stefan Leiderer et al.<br />
Box 11:<br />
Counterproductive competition among local stakeholders<br />
The PFM cycle process at district level and beyond seems to be based on a sound<br />
regulatory framework. The principles of broad participatory and bottom-up planning<br />
and implementation are very well integrated into the <strong>for</strong>mal procedures. However,<br />
it is striking that organisational structures especially at community level are sometimes<br />
not clear. Counterproductive competition among local stakeholders is common.<br />
This becomes obvious in the relations between chiefs (TA), councillors, and Members<br />
of the National Parliament (MPs). In Malawi’s rural society Traditional Authorities<br />
tend to receive more respect than elected local councillors. The same applies<br />
to MPs who are perceived to represent a higher authority than local assembly<br />
members. It is common practise in Malawi that TAs with good local connections are<br />
used by national politics to gain additional political support at the grass roots level.<br />
TAs who are successful in acting as local agents <strong>for</strong> development are more likely to<br />
link up with their communities in their areas and districts. This strengthens their<br />
trustworthiness <strong>for</strong> the people and on the other hand makes them more interesting<br />
<strong>for</strong> national politics to broaden their support. In sum, the better TAs prove their<br />
connections, the better they can also benefit from national politics and thus have an<br />
incentive to broaden their clientelistic relations. Nevertheless, this means that TAs<br />
have to interfere in local procedures, which in theory are reserved <strong>for</strong> elected officials<br />
such as councillors. This observation has important implications <strong>for</strong> the way in<br />
which the devolution process is undertaken to empower the citizenry so that it can<br />
hold public officials and institutions to account <strong>for</strong> their per<strong>for</strong>mance in the delivery<br />
of public goods and services<br />
Source: MoLGRD (2005); own compilation<br />
84 German Development <strong>Institut</strong>e