|
Participatory Budgeting: The Way to Go
The Editor’s Opinion
The Herald: March 30, 2007 (Harare)
Mayors from eastern and southern Africa who met in Harare from the 6th
– 8th March 2007 have recommended that municipalities should work
with ratepayers to develop participatory budgets. The concept of
participatory budgeting is an annual process of democratic decision-making
in which ordinary city residents and other stakeholders decide how to
allocate part of a municipal budget.
Embracing of this idea is most welcome, especially as it comes against the
realisation that municipalities in most developing countries, Africa in
particular, have not seriously considered participatory budgeting as an
important concept. It is, indeed, sad that most authorities running
municipalities in developing countries dislike public scrutiny of their
revenue and expenditure.
Such authorities should be reminded that they are accountable to the
ratepayers and must conduct themselves in a manner, which dispels the notion
that they have something to hide. Studies have shown that participatory
budgeting results in more equitable public spending, higher quality of life,
increased satisfaction of basic needs and greater transparency and
accountability.
By
creating a channel for ratepayers to give voice to their priorities, it
helps municipalities to reduce scope for corruption, thereby enhancing
credibility and mutual trust. All ratepayers cannot be directly involved in
participatory budgeting, but their contribution can be channeled through
elected resident associations or budget delegates that are elected to
represent different communities and interest groups. Businesses are key
partners in the development of municipalities and hence should also have
input in public budgeting through their associations or organizations.
Participatory budgeting is usually characterised by budget delegates
identifying spending priorities and voting on which priorities to implement.
There is no model of participatory budgeting but approaches differ and are
shaped by their local contexts. South American countries like Brazil and
others who had experts attending the meeting in Harare have successfully
implemented participatory budgeting.
We
believe that eastern and southern Africa countries represented at the
meeting should draw a lot of lessons from the experiences of such countries.
The
meeting agreed on an action plan that will see the selection of a
municipality to pilot participatory budgeting in each of the represented
African countries.
We
hope that the plan of action will get underway without further delays.
Source: The Herald, 30 March 2007, Harare, Zimbabwe
|
