Citizen participation in Public Policy Processes in Malawi

2013

In the last two decades, a number of discourses on democratic governance and development in the developing countries position citizen participation as a public accountability mechanism. Most countries have adopted decentralization governance reforms to enable local citizens to influence government policies and services. Literature on decentralization shows weak coherence on how public accountability works to achieve local development and democracy consolidation. Hence, the research study proposes a citizen participation model that should be used in investigating citizen based public accountability in policy making. The evaluation study intends to measure the extent to which citizen participation influences public accountability in local policy making in Malawi; using an evaluation framework based on the suggested citizen participation model. The evaluation investigated the influence of citizen participation in the making of the Lilongwe City Development Strategy (2009). It used qualitative research design and a case study of Ngwenya, a peri-urban area in Lilongwe City. The study used a clarificative evaluation approach. The study found that there is poor citizen participation to influence public accountability in local policy making in Malawi. The findings depict that the conceptualization of citizen participation model should underpin policy principles and associate laws to frame contextual base that helps decentralization benefits reach the local citizens. The report suggests that to improve public accountability through citizen participation primarily there should be: i) clear social, constitutional or political contracts between local government and citizens; ii) adherence to democratic governance; and iii) consistent alignment of programme implementation to assumed contexts in their design.

The 3rd Annual International Conference on Public Administration and Development Alternatives 04 - 06 July 2018, Stellenbosch University, Saldahna Bay, South Africa, 2018

To assist the government in determining its mandate, citizens should be involved as they best know their needs. The significance of citizen engagement in the process of policy formulation is rooted in among others, the fact that public policy outputs and effects affect those to whom the policy is targeted at. This paper identifies areas of contribution of citizen involvement in public policy formulation. Literature illustrates that some governments do not engage citizens sufficiently in the process of public policy formulation. It remains relatively unclear as to why government evades engaging citizens in the formulation of public policy and conduct random and cursory consultations in order to enshroud the lack of consultation. The case of Botswana, illustrates that citizens made adequate efforts in the contribution to the formulation of the country's public policy. This study therefore, shows that citizens are an important stakeholder hence government engages them in a specific domain. This study also discusses selected cases of citizen engagement in Botswana. The study further acknowledges that the failure of policy implementation can be linked to failure on the part of civil servants where they do not follow proper procedure as recommended by the government. To this end, public policy successes require strong involvement of public officials to avoid any policy implementation failure.

The study seeks to feed into the existing literature by making an analysis of legislative framework in Zimbabwe. Further it attempts to assess the extent to which it guarantees public participation at local level. In particular, the researcher analysed the Constitution of Zimbabwe and varied pieces of legislation that governs local participation at local government level, the various participatory processes available for citizen participation, the power relations that influence the process, form and content for citizen participation and the specific benefits that come as a result of citizen participation. Of importance to note in the ongoing is that Zimbabwe has now enshrined a devolved system of local government in the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act 2013 and has ushered a new era that recognizes the importance of public participation in local governance. The principal Acts governing local government are the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29:13) (hereinafter UC Act), Rural District Councils Act (RDC Act), Regional, Town and Country Planning Act (RTCP Act) and the Traditional Leadership Act (TLA). The study also takes into cognizance the existence of varied possible actors for enhancing public participation including but not limited to central, provincial and local government, government departments and agents, civic society, traditional structures, professional bodies, informal traders and primary stakeholders (citizens). This is in cognition of the importance of direct participation of primary stakeholders, and their indirect participation through elected representatives realised through efforts of secondary and tertiary stakeholders (developmental partners and government).

The government drive for greater community-based governance requires public bodies to ensure that all communities have the opportunity to participate in local decision-making structures and infl uence local service delivery. How effectively citizens from different communities and neighbourhoods are able to participate, however, can vary considerably due to structural, environmental, cultural and personal factors.

The paper discusses participation of the public in local councils in Malawi in the context that Malawi has had no councillors since 2005. The paper is based on empirical evidence collected through a largely qualitative research design. It adopts a case study approach focusing on Lilongwe District Council and Balaka Town Council. The study has established that the absence of councillors in Malawi has negatively affected the participation of the public in local public machinery. Analysis of the empirical evidence indicates that in the absence of councillors, (i) local people are detached from councils because of a political leadership vacuum that has been created, (ii) withdrawal of formal policy spaces has culminated in the weakening of voices from below, (iii) power struggles among the actors sitting in for councillors impairs them for motivating people to participate in local public life at the council, and (iv) the interim participatory structures have ended up being patronage oriented rather than community-serving oriented as envisaged. The paper holds the view that, in the absence of councillors, participation in local public affairs is largely limited to the people that are connected to the influential political and social figures and networks.

Parliamentary Affairs, 2011

Active participation and effective leadership are two accepted substantial objects of a well-functioning local government, without those ingredients, governance of local government intuitions cannot be contented to its founding purpose. Bangladesh, an emerging South Asian economic tiger, has achieved some exemplary development within short time in many fields, is still struggling to establish a strong and vibrant local government. There are several barriers identified beyond this such as colonial legacy in the governance, extreme controlling by the central government, weak participatory mechanism, poor finance etc. With the study of union parishad, the lowest tier of rural local government, this paper aims to illustrate the actual pattern of elected representative's participation and the nature of leadership in the local government institution in Bangladesh. This is an exploratory study where multiple data collection tools are applied for collecting data from 77 elected members of 11 UPs of Kishoreganj Sadar Upazila. Major findings revealed that a significant amount of elected member does not have minimum knowledge about the laws and they do not have the proper understanding on management before entering their role. Moreover, patriarchy attitude is found as obstruction in the case of women's active participation as body member. Finally, this paper provided some policy suggestions how this problems can be resolved.

Administration, 2013

2019

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science

This study explored the challenges which hinder citizen participation in governance issues in Nalusanga Zone of Mumbwa District. The major aim of the study was to establish the challenges which hindered citizen participation in governance processes with a view to inform policy direction. A qualitative research approach, anchored on an exploratory research design, was applied to achieve the research purpose. Interview guides and focus group discussions were used as research instruments to explore the research problem on purposively selected individuals. Data which was analysed thematically, revealed recurring themes from the data. The study revealed that citizens faced a number of challenges in governance participation. These included; ignorance, poor distribution of resources, poverty, illiteracy, having ineffective participatory systems and platforms which influenced the participation of the citizens in public governance.Upon establishing a number of challenges that citizens faced in governance affairs, the study made a number of recommendation to counter the stated challenges. Among the main recommendation were the need for the government to provide empowerment funds to the area in order to reduce poverty levels. The need to sensitise members of the public about the importance of citizen participation in national affairs was also recommended. The government was to develop platforms for public participation which are relevant, coordinated and accessible in order for the public to participate in governance and development in a meaningful manner. Finally, there was need to create interactive public consultations in order to improve the quality of participation.