Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...
Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...
Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Financial</strong> <strong>Management</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>PRSP</strong> Implementation in Malawi<br />
heads of the district hospitals and several health centres. Coordination between<br />
these levels do not seem to be a major problem.<br />
The education sector is organised in a different way. It is designed as a threelevel-system<br />
with Education Division Managers at the intermediate level<br />
between headquarters and District Education Managers (DEMs). There are<br />
reportedly occasional problems with the construction, registration and staffing<br />
of schools. The districts, together with the communities concerned, are<br />
responsible <strong>for</strong> school construction, after approval by the MoE. 39 However,<br />
communication and coordination failures have in the past repeatedly led to a<br />
situation where newly constructed schools would not be registered by the<br />
MoE and thus not be staffed with teachers. However, these appear to be only<br />
isolated cases, as in general, relations in the sector are highly hierarchical and<br />
responsibilities rather clearly defined. The deconcentrated units are mere<br />
implementers, whereas headquarters are responsible <strong>for</strong> policies, guidelines,<br />
recruitment of most of the staff and disciplinary measures. Headquarters issue<br />
ceilings <strong>for</strong> the districts in the budget planning and <strong>for</strong>mulation phase. The<br />
districts prepare their budget estimates and submit them back to headquarters<br />
where they are consolidated into the sector budget. 40<br />
It remains to be seen, whether coordination problems gain importance in the<br />
course of further devolution of sector responsibilities in the future.<br />
6.4.3 Vertical coordination<br />
Coordination between central and local government level is characterised by<br />
a highly hierarchical system. This is especially evident in the way in<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
flows and how new PFM tools are introduced as well as in the dependency<br />
on transfers from the central level. This system leads to delays and uncertainty<br />
in the budget process and finally to in<strong>for</strong>mal practices at local government<br />
level.<br />
This section analyses what in this study is described by the term vertical<br />
coordination, i.e. coordination between the central and local level of govern-<br />
39 School construction is usually financed by donors. The DAs are responsible <strong>for</strong> applications.<br />
40 In the education sector, the district budgets are first consolidated into division budgets,<br />
which are then consolidated into the sector budget.<br />
German Development <strong>Institut</strong>e 113