he Africa Local Government Action Forum (ALGAF) will introduce a Module on “Linking Participatory Governance to Local Economic Development” on the 4^th of April 2007. This is the second module in a series of three modules for 2007 under the theme Enhancing “Participatory Governance in Local Development”. The first Module was on “Participatory Governance and Social Accountability” while the third Module will be on “The Role of ICT in Decentralized Governance”

The first topic under Module I introduced participants to the challenges and constraints of introducing participatory budgeting as a tool for resource mobilization and allocation. In his presentation Mr. George Matovu the regional director of MDP-ESA emphasized that participatory governance in general and participatory budgeting in particular can be a panacea to most developmental problems faced by African countries. He however stated that for the benefits of participatory budgeting to be realized there should strong political will from the government which should be supported by an enabling legal framework.

The second topic for Module I was on Participatory Governance as a tool and was presented by Mrs. Shinga Mupindu of Zimbabwe. In her presentation she clearly outlined that there is need for effective decentralization to ensure that participatory governance is achieved. She added that participatory governance is a means to attain transparency, accountability, equity, efficiency and ultimately sustainability.

The third topic under the first module was presented by Hon. Kwamena Ahwoi, senior lecturer at GIMPA and former Minister of local government in Ghana. In his presentation Hon. Ahwoi underscored that participatory governance is most effective when decentralization – participation and development take place at the same time. In his presentation he also gave his life experience as Minister of local government in dealing with the challenges of participatory budgeting.

All ALGAF Presentations can be downloaded from:

http://www.mdpafrica.org.zw/ALGAF presentations.htm

Some of the key issues that came from the participants throughout Module I included the following:

·        Participants lament that there is need to consider governments as partners rather than adversaries in participatory governance. The idea is NOT to take governments away from the driver’s seat and replace them with civil society organizations. Thus Participatory budgeting and monitoring – should not aim at devolving governments from their audit function, but rather seek ways and means of involving civil society in the process

·         Participants also encouraged local authorities to move away from politics when prioritizing development projects in their areas of jurisdiction;

·         Participants also emphasized the need for citizens’ capacity building to ensure that effective participatory governance takes place.

Table 1: Remaining Sessions for ALGAF VII