Water For Justice

Local Governance Barometer (LGB)

Idasa which is a democracy institute working in the African continent with its head office in Pretoria, South Africa, is implementing the Local Governance Barometer (LGB) which is a tool to measure local governance quality by evaluating successes and identifying gaps for institutional capacity reinforcement for the realisation of good governance. This tool has been developed in partnership with two Impact Alliance partners: Pact and Netherland Development Organisation (SNV). The three Impact Alliance partners are currently applying the LGB in the following countries: Botswana, Ecuador, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi and South Africa. The LGB focuses on five criteria which include: effectiveness, rule of law, accountability, participation and civic engagement, and equity and each criterion has its own sub-criteria with specific questions attached to them.

LGB application in Lesotho
In Lesotho Idasa is working in partnership with Transformation Resource Centre (TRC) as a partner in the implementation of the LGB. TRC and Idasa piloted the LGB in Qiloane and Manonyane Community Councils where interviews were conducted with Councillors, Officials and Community Organisations in December 2007. A report was compiled on the state of Community Councils from the perspective of these three categories of respondents.

A report-back workshop was organised at Mmelesi Lodge on for Qiloane and Manonyane Community Councils where the research findings were presented to the Councillors, Officials and Marena. Both Councillors and Civil Society Organisation held higher rating as compared to the Officials though all were below 50%. Officials rated 60% on equity while Councillors and Civil Society Organisations remained below 50%. Details of the findings and ratings are in the full report.

Issues raised during the discussion of the report
A question of whether there had been a study on the level at which local government in Lesotho was before the study was carried out as it seemed that Lesotho was going to be compared with local governments from other southern African countries. This came up because the participants believed justice was not being made unto councils in Lesotho as their operation started without prior training. The response was that the comparisons took into considerations for long each local government has been in operation and that successes they had would also be shared to other Southern African countries to apply in their own situations.

It was noted that it appeared to Community Councils that Central Government seems to be still holding powers which are suppose to be decentralised to strengthen the functioning of Community Councils in Lesotho but this issue has not appeared in the report.

It was noted that most Councillors lack capacity and understanding of how best can they involve Marena and communities in the development and implementation of Community Council’s policies and strategies as well as financial matters. On the same note, communities also lack understanding of how the Community Councils operates and what are their roles and responsibilities.
A concern was noted that communities don’t want to participate in their own development because they expect payments or incentives. It was commented that TRC has been doing good work by engaging with communities as well as Community Councils since 2006. With these trainings there are no longer contradictions and misunderstandings between the roles of Marena and that of Councillors.
There is a need to strengthen the working relations between Community Councils and Marena. In future interviews about the state of Community Councils, Marena should also be involved because they also serve as leaders of communities and they play a role in community development. The government should empower Marena through workshops.
A concern was raised about the way in which electronic media, especially TVs is encouraging young people to engage in sexual activities and therefore spread HIV & AIDS and it is no longer a taboo to talk about sex which is not the culture of Basotho. It was suggested that Community Councils should take a step to encourage people to go for HIV test since those who do not know their status continue the spread without knowing it though there are some that spread it purposely.
In terms of community safety it was recommended that Police Stations should also established near offices of Community Councils to ensure proper co-ordination of Community Safety Strategies. The government should also take care of the Police Officers by providing them with new uniforms and cars for them to be encouraged in performance of their duties. It was also pleaded that Police Officers should be trustworthy when they are informed about crime suspects to ensure that whistle blowers are protected.

Proposed Capacity Development Strategies
Strategic Objective # 1: To develop strategies for the involvement of local communities in Municipal Development Planning, Budgeting and Performance Monitoring.

Activities:
1. Compilation of database of all Civil Society Organisations and Community Development Committees in the Community Councils.
2. Development of Community Participation and Communication Strategy.
3. Compilation and circulation of Community Councils’ meeting timetable.

Strategic Objective # 2 : To develop capacity building programme for Councillors, Officials, Marena and Community Development Committees.

Activities:
1. Development of Training Package on Local Government Acts and relevant legislation applicable to Community Councils.
2. Building Capacity of Marena to understand their roles and relationships with Community Councils.
3. Build capacity of Community Development Committees to understand their roles and relationships with Marena and the workings of Community Councils.

Strategic Objective # 3: To strengthen the roles of Community Councils and Marena in the development of localised HIV&AIDS and Community Safety Strategies.

Activities:
1. Strengthen the relationship between Community Councils, Marena, Clinic Committees and Community Based Support Groups.
2. Strengthen the relationship between Community Councils, Marena and the Police in the fight against crime.

Strategic Objective # 4 : To involve stakeholders from the Ministry of Local Government, Maseru District Council, Community Councils, Marena and Development Committees as well as other Agencies to realise the three identified Strategic Objectives.

Activity:
Convene a Community Councils’ Capacity Development Consultative Workshop with all relevant stakeholders to discuss the outcome of the LGB Application and the recommended Strategic Objectives and Proposed Activities.

Closing Remarks
In closing the Chairperson of Manonyane Community Council thanked TRC for providing education and training workshops which resulted in both Councillors and Marena realising their common goal- to serve the people. Morena from Qiloane strongly emphasized that “Marena should not be left-out in the processes of development and community engagement because they looks after the flock and if they are left-out the enterprise shall not produce quality meat”.