Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Conway Tutani
10 July 2009
opinion
Harare — Harare Mayor Mr Muchadeyi Masunda this week raised two important inter-linked issues regarding local authority governance: that of the eligibility or qualification criteria for both elected and appointed councillors, and the efficacy or effectiveness of democracy at local government level.
He made the remarks after observing what he described as the poor calibre of some, if not most, of the recently elected and appointed councillors as far as knowledgeably and effectively conducting council business and delivering service to ratepayers, while being cognisant of the fact that they were democratically elected to represent their respective wards. Most ratepayers and residents are of the same opinion and strongly so.
The Mayor feels there is a gross mismatch between the well-intentioned democratic approach to representation and the final products of those democratic elections. He trenchantly observed: "Some of the councillors have no capacity. Democracy does not always produce the best results."
I can understand the Mayor's exasperation. Ignorance and naivety do not have bounds most painfully so in large numbers such as in a council chamber. A few years ago, an individual (who I shall not name) was sued for breaking the complainant's spectacles in a pub brawl.
The lawsuit read in part: ". to pay for the replacement of the spectacles plus costs of suit". After reading the lawsuit, his unsophisticated friend asks: "Did you also tear his suit?" Years earlier, at the height of the liberation war, people necessarily organised secret meetings to keep the freedom fires burning.
Some of these meetings had mixed moments of anger and laughter as some cell group members would wrangle endlessly over petty issues. On one such day, this individual, in all seriousness, asked the cell leader: "Chairman, should I greet you by your title or by your name when I meet you on the street?" wasting precious time and risking a raid and arrest by the Rhodesian regime's secret police.
Such frivolity and ignorance, while frequently found and acceptable in our daily informal interactions, should not go as high as Town House. Catapulting such individuals who are not tutored in basic procedures into the council chamber is a huge waste of time and resources.
As has been often proved, etiquette and protocol are beyond them even if they were to be inducted. This is the uncoachable and untrainable type. It takes a long five years to rectify these expensive mistakes, but then you cannot recoup time. Can we afford that? Local government is a necessary part of democracy and citizenship. At its basic, democracy means people having an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives; and citizenship means being a full member of the community.
For many of us, most decisions which affect our daily lives, and most of what we think of as the community, happen at the local level. But then the City of Harare experience shows that exercising our democratic right is only the beginning of the story. Hard work needs to be done in a professional and competent way after elections have come and gone. The first step would be to vet candidates intending to take up public office. Screening should begin at the nomination court through stipulated minimum qualification rules.
What sort of personality profile should a civic leader fit into?
An admittedly broad and liberal interpretation of eminent 20th century psychologist Maslow's Theory on the Hierarchy (or levels) of Needs would serve to illustrate who we should consider for leadership, when we should do so, and at what level. At the bottom of Maslow's pyramid of needs in order of importance are physiological or basic needs such as food, water and sleep.
Next up the hierarchy is what he calls safety, stability and security needs, that is, health, shelter (housing) and employment. Next up the narrowing pyramid is the need for belongingness; that is, love and companionship, which are found in family and friendship. Up next in the still tapering pyramid is self-esteem and esteem from others; that is, confidence in oneself and respect from others earned from achievement in the community and society.
At the apex is self-actualization, i.e., creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice and readiness to accept facts. Basically, what Maslow is saying is that higher needs come into focus when lower (or deficiency) needs are met.
From the reported goings-on in the council, it appears that most of the elected councillors fall into the bottom two tiers. They are still to cater for their food and housing needs. Some members of the previous council were reportedly in the habit of taking baths in the showers at Town House because they didn't have anywhere decent to stay.
Obviously such incumbents will tend to primarily focus on using public office to improve their status instead of serving ratepayers, and would easily be tempted into corrupt practices. Some Mabvuku councillors' lives changed overnight after being elected into office. How can we entrust civic affairs to people who are not yet ready to run their own private lives for whatever reason?
While they may be effective mobilisers in articulating issues in their small communities, it does not necessarily follow that they will be effective leaders at the higher level of council. A person who emerges as a leader in one situation may not necessarily succeed in another situation.
At council level, the leadership profile should fit into Maslow's top two tiers of self-esteem and self-actualisation. Good leaders are generally brighter, better adjusted psychologically and display better judgment and such traits emerge when one has gained respect in the community through personal advancement and achievement.
That is why even in colonial Rhodesia, against all odds, blacks rose both professionally and in business despite the racist policies of exclusion until it became untenable for whites to completely shut them out. You need to have individuals who are already established in their personal and professional lives at the helm of council affairs and higher.
Democracy should be complemented and even enhanced by eligibility rules because if there are no such, there would be administrative chaos. Yes, democracy is ideal, but it must be tempered with reality, it must be informed. Does a doctor make a democratic decision to conduct an emergency operation? The other issue is local government vis-vis central government.
In the 20th century as industrial societies grew larger, the tensions between the ideal of local democracy and participation, on the one hand, and the demands of efficiency and central administration, on the other, grew more acute.
Urban sociologist Michael Salvaris observes: "It has been said that there is an 'unresolvable' conflict in modern democracy between the necessity for familiarity (found at the local government level), on the one hand, and the size and diversity required for prosperity (that is, central government level), on the other."
A sort of economy of scale.
This explains why most people feel quite strongly that certain facilities and services should be provided and managed locally and for all citizens because they are the essential components for a proper community, e.g., water and sewage reticulation, housing, schools and creches.
It is human nature to look at our interests first, sometimes at the selfish exclusion of others. That is why there is need for a countervailing force, in the form of central goverment, to manage this tensile state of affairs. One of the main functions of Zimbabwe's Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development is "to co-ordinate central and local government programmes and development initiatives".
In essence, Minister Ignatius Chombo's role is to counterbalance the affairs of local authorities within the broader framework of the national interest. That is why democracy, at the national level, should be tempered with the global interest for peace, security and prosperity.
So local governance has got both its strengths in that it combines both the civil and political and social dimensions of citizenship and limitations; in that it cannot function in isolation effectively within the State in a globalised world.
While we are still to establish a local government culture, it is safer to have ceremonial mayors and leave the policy nitty-gritties to trained, qualified and experienced specialists.
The starting point could be the Local Government Board through recruiting able and willing top-level professionals who will provide the basis for councillors to make well-informed decisions.
Ultimately, what is at stake is balancing social justice with fiscal responsibility.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
