4.3 CAPACITY
4.3.2 Project management
The research study considered four thematic variables that emerged from the review of data, namely resource mobilisation, project control, supervision and monitoring, and evaluation. The tally shows that resource mobilisation appeared many times in the data, namely at 62 per cent, followed by project control at 23 per cent, and supervision and monitoring and evaluation at 12 per cent and 4 per cent respectively, as shown in table 4.11 below:
Table 4.11: Comparison of project management themes
Theme Tally Percentage
Project control 6 23
Supervision and Monitoring 3 12
Conducting evaluation 1 4
Resource mobilisation 16 62
Total 26 100
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Resource mobilisation in this context relates to mobilisation of bricks, sand, quarry and other local resources for the implementation of projects. This is the commonest form of participation which Pimber and Pretty (1997:309) describe as participation by incentives. This finding collates with the observation by Msewa (2005:69) that participation by contribution of materials is the commonest and the most popular form of participation undertaken by local communities. However, despite being the most common and popular, it is also sporadically fragmented and reactive because it only takes place when there is a need to implement a project. Like lack of control of project resources discussed in 4.4 above, project control comes second, and relates mainly to the ability of the project committee to confidently control project activities. It is difficult for the PMCs to take full control of project activities because they do not receive adequate training. Chairperson of Ntolongo VDC confirms this: “We were trained for only two days. Please, we need more days of training’’.28
According to the LDF manual, training is programmed for five days.
Project supervision and monitoring arose less frequently because the communities are unaware of the importance of their participation in the supervision. The technical officers undertake the supervision and monitoring on their behalf. This was also confirmed by the Kalondolondo report which established that supervision and monitoring of projects is left to public officers from the Council (Buster, 2013:13). This practice is enforced by the key leaders in the district. The DCF minutes reveal: “It was requested that there is a need to make sure that PWP projects are supervised by qualified officers’’.29
Similarly, conducting evaluation is unknown. Evaluation is left in the hands of technical officers who tell the local communities how they have benefited, as Chikhawo VDC minutes state: “Mr Phiri is the one who evaluated the project and told us that the project has benefited us by giving us various materials i.e. goats, credit, skills’’30.
28Minutes of meeting of Ntolongo VDC dated 12th April, 2011 29Minutes of meeting of DCF dated 30th July, 2012
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It appears that participation starts and concludes at the provision of local materials and casual labour. However, the DDPS provides for the involvement of local communities at all the stages of the project life cycle, including supervision, and monitoring and evaluation (GoM, 1999:19). According to Plummer (1999:23), the involvement of local communities ensures that projects’ outputs and outcomes are relevant to their needs and aspirations.
One can infer from the discussion on planning and project management that the local communities lack basic capabilities, awareness, adequate resources and the necessary facilities to enhance participation. Decentralisation has not adequately empowered people to assist them identify problems and needs, or for them to increasingly assume responsibility to plan, control and assess the collective actions in their localities (Askiew, 1989, cited in Tosun, 2000:621).
4.4 ATTITUDE
The extent to which local communities and local leaders use opportunities provided by decentralisation depends on state of their collective consciousness and responsibility (Smith, 1985:188). Evidence suggests inadequacies in this regard in Nsanje District Council so far. The study examined three thematic categories that emerged from the data in relation to attitude, namely responsibility, mindset and service provision. These thematic categories are discussed in detail as follows: .
4.4.1 Responsibility
In the category of responsibility, the study compared the following thematic variables; self help spirit, theft of materials and dependence on free handouts Dependence on free things emerged most frequently from the data, scoring 50 per cent above self-help and theft of materials at 36 per cent and 14 per cent respectively, as indicated in the following Table 4.12:
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Table 4.12: Comparison of responsibility themes
Theme Tally Percentage
Self-help spirit 8 36
Theft of materials 3 14
Dependency on free things 11 50
Total 22 100
Dependence on free things came up in the data mostly as concerns expressed by stakeholders at different spheres of government. The concerns are expressed in the sense that dependence on free things affects the commitment of local communities to participation in development. The use of free things has made people dependent on external support for most of their needs as communities. If local communities are used to free things, it is difficult to mobilise them for communal activities that are free, as Ndamera ADC minutes confirm: “‘VH longanipyanu complained that the free things are affecting development; people refuse to participate in development work because they say they were denied free maize that was meant for the hungry people’’.31 This is also echoed by the call from the DCF as DCF minutes read:
“Chiefs were requested to try and discourage people from depending on handouts’’.32
Dependency correlates with a lack of self-help spirit in the sense that the people who are dependent lack self-initiative and self-mobilisation. Msewa (2005:74) asserts the view that local communities are not interested in ventures unless there is an incentive to do so. People who lack the spirit of self-initiative resort to stealing, as evidenced by an incident reported by Ngabu ADC: “Mr Yesaya has been seen by people stealing cement, and everybody is called upon to take responsibility to prevent stealing of building materials by following up on materials suspected to be those of the community projects’’33. On the basis of the above, it is obvious that a
community that is not responsible enough cannot enhance participatory development. In other words, decentralisation has not achieved the required
31 Minutes of meeting of Ndamera ADC dated 16 January 2014. 32 Minutes of meeting of DCF dated 5 October 2011.
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levels of participation that can enable the local communities to take responsibility to organise self-help initiatives (Smith, 1992:12).
4.4.2 Mindset
The study compared three thematic variables in the category of mindset. These include autocratic tendencies, fear of authority and political patronage. When the themes were tallied, political patronage emerged as a frequently mentioned theme at 47 per cent above autocracy at 35 per cent and fear of authority at 18 per cent, as indicated in table 4.13 below:
Table 4.13: Comparison of mindset themes
Theme Tally Percentage
Autocratic tendencies 6 35
Fear of authority 3 18
Political patronage 8 47
Total 17 100
Political patronage relates to the activities of politicians, mostly the MPs that dominate over the local communities such as providing free things with the motive to build a network of political support. The Members of Parliament have exploited the CDF for similar political motives, as one anonymous MP admits: “Let us be honest: CDF funds are completely in the hands of us, sitting MPs. Often we do not use it to facilitate development in our area. Development is secondary, and often incidental. This is the money we MPs use to strengthen our position in the constituency’’34. Political patronage kills
the spirit of self-initiative which is an important element of participatory development. It renders the citizens passive and therefore unable to participate in affairs that affect them. As Wolman (1990:34) states, participation falls victim to local level politics that may be elite-based, dominated by special interests, and closed to meaningful participation.
34Ephraim Nyondo, Eight years of CDF: Any hope? The Nation, Wednesday October 30, 2013,
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Autocracy reflected as a significant issue of concern. It relates to the tendency by traditional leaders to be autocratic in working with the local communities. A decree from GVH Ntolongo confirms this: “Whether one likes it or not, the scheme now exists here, because we want to end hunger. Those who have their own gardens there should come to see me, maybe to consider them in future in terms of assisting them’’35. Such a statement from the Traditional
Leader limits freedom of expression which is a critical component in participatory development. It should be noted that local development committees were aligned to jurisdictional areas of Tradition Leaders during their establishment in 196736, and have remained as such despite the creation
of wards in the new Local Government Act of 1998.This has given leeway to Traditional Leaders to exercise full control of development committees and processes.
Hussein (2004:278) observes that both political dominance and autocratic tendencies rob the community of the independence and freedom to express their views. These prevailing political and traditional tendencies have implications for the fear of authority variable that is ranked the third at 18 per cent because people do not talk freely about their situation. This is exacerbated by the fact that education levels are very low in the Nsanje District Council37, and that most people are politically naïve, having emerged
from a long period of authoritarian rule, oppression and community manipulation (Simkonda, 1997:8). Fear of authority has both positive and negative effects on participatory development in the Nsanje Distinct. The positive effect is that it makes participation by material contribution realisable. Traditional leaders issue directives in terms of material contributions to projects, as Chimombo ADC minutes confirm: “TA Chimombo informed the meeting that all except two GVHs have managed to reach the target of 5,000 bricks each one of them was asked to mould. GVH Mbala and GVH Musi are
35 Minutes of meeting of Ntolongo VDC dated 23 April 2012.
36 Soon after independence the Government of Malawi established Area Action Groups headed by traditional leaders. These were transformed into Area Development Committees in the 1990s during the first phase of the implementation of decentralisation reforms.
37Literacy rate is at 56% in the Nsanje District as per Population and Housing Census (NSO:2011:41).
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given one more week to finish”38.This shows that participation by material
contribution was achieved. The negative effect is that it stifles freedom of expression. This is a situation in which people are voiceless, as confirmed by Christopher Naphiyo, Regional Manager of National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE): “NICE is aware that not many Malawians are able to voice their concerns hence this civic engagement initiative that NICE Trust wants to implement across the Southern Region’’39. The implication of failure to voice
out concerns is that the development efforts benefit the elite. UNDP reports of a case of a traditional leader in the Nkhata-Bay district in Malawi who decided that a postal agency should be located near his house despite an alternative location suggested by the local community (UNDP, 2001:18).
4.4.3 Service provision
The study looked at three thematic variables that were summarised from the data. These include accountability, responsiveness and corruption. The present study finds that accountability is a more critical issue than responsiveness and corruption. Accountability scored 63 per cent, responsiveness 26 per cent and corruption 11per cent as table 4.14 below indicates:
Table 4.14: Comparison of service provision themes
Theme Tally Percentage
Accountability 12 63
Responsiveness 5 26
Corruption 2 11
Total 19 100
Accountability in this context relates to the downward flow of information about the District Council budgets and project activities. The issue of accountability had a substantial rating because ADCs or VDC do not have full information on what is going on. The council officials do not provide information on what they do. The situation forced the District Commissioner
38 Minutes of meeting of Makoko ADC dated 28th July, 2011
39Watipaso Mzungu Jnr ‘Nice calls for active citizenship’ Weekend Nation, Saturday August 23 2014, p6
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for Nsanje, Mr Harry Phiri, who “appealed to both parties (government officers and Civil Society Organisations) to be sending copies of funding of development projects being implemented in the local communities to ADCs for community members to appreciate developments being implemented in their areas.’’40 A lack of accountability has the potential to affect the
participation of the people as Tambulasi and Kayuni (2007: 172) observe: if officers are not accountable, people lose trust in them and are discouraged from participation.
The ranking of responsiveness is also significant, implying that public officers are not quick in taking action on issues that come from local communities. DEC minutes captured this: ‘”Members urged the Director of Planning and Development to respond timely to requests submitted to the department: other members (of the committee) observed a lot of delays’’.41 A lack of
responsiveness of public officers discourages local communities from participation because public officers are not seen to be assisting them. Similar sentiments are shared by GVH Mbango as reported in Malemia ADC minutes: ‘’GVH Mbango reported that they established a forestry block committee but the forestry people are frustrating the people. As a result, people are discouraged to participate in the committees’’.42’. Kuliposa (2004:
773) observes that most local officials have failed to develop creative strategies to solve problems or to work with their local constituencies. As a result they have not received support from the local communities they purport to serve.
Corruption was ranked low because it is not as explicit as theft of materials. Furthermore, the low levels of education and lack of assertiveness of local communities and the lack of transparency on the part of service providers make it difficult for the vice to be identified and exposed. The implication is that if local communities cannot detect corruption, they are not able to hold public officials to account. Consequently effective participatory development cannot be achieved on account of the failure to hold public officers
40 Minutes of meeting DEC dated 17th March, 2013 41 Minutes of meeting of DCF dated 19th September, 2012 42Minutes of meeting of Malemia ADC dated 28th June, 2013
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accountable. The 11 per cent rating for corruption is due to data obtained from external assessments of programmes and projects implemented at local level. Here cases of corruption are able to be identified, as evidenced by a media house report which quoted Jephter Mwanza, Director of the Kalondolondo programme as saying: “The Council says the projects are there and the people are working on them, yet the communities on the ground say such projects are not there.’’43 Similarly, The Nation quoted Charles Nakada of the
Chikhwawa community who observed the following on corruption: ‘’Since public works programme is top–down, and is not sanctioned by people, officials at both local and district level take advantage to abuse the programme, for instance, including ghost workers in the payroll’’44. These acts
of dishonesty make local communities lose confidence in the service providers, and discourage people from participation. It can be seen from the discussion that the state of local democracy, levels of accountability and corruption do not offer freedom of expression, knowledge and trust that can enhance meaningful participation of local communities in development.
4.5. SUMMARY
The preceding chapter indicated the status of participatory development following the implementation of decentralisation reforms. In summary the findings revealed that empowerment of local communities has been elusive. Participation is mainly visible in the mobilisation of local materials such as bricks, sand and labour as part of the community contribution to projects. Participatory structures are active in terms of meetings. However, decision- making and control of project preparation and implementation activities are largely influenced by external players including government, donors and NGOs. Participatory structures like ADCs and VDCs have not been effective in enhancing participatory development because they are weak and are not utilised fully by stakeholders. The findings also revealed that capacity challenges in the planning and management of projects that result in participation of local communities being less effective. Responsibility and commitment of both local communities and leaders have not been conducive
43Jephter Mwanza Sunday Times, April 2014.
44Steve Gulumba, Chiefs blamed for public works malpractices, The Daily Times, Wednesday
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to enhancing meaningful participatory development. Therefore, decentralisation reforms have not succeeded in dealing with the local decision-making challenge, capacity constraints and the introduction of reforms that can strengthen the participatory structures and change the mindset of the local communities, community leaders and service providers. The next chapter summarises the main findings in the context of the research problem and objectives.
79 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION
5.1. INTRODUCTION
The objective of this chapter is to synthesise the main findings of the research and highlight the major points of the study as discussed in the previous chapters. It draws conclusions relating to the findings of chapter four. Finally, the chapter proposes recommendations for improving development in the Nsanje District through community participation and suggests possible areas for future research.